The Eye of Aretpo
by Fritz Baugh
Summary: June 8 2021 Year 38.  Some heroes are born, some are made.  Some chose that life, some are chosen by it. A new generation is running out of time, and the legacy of the Ghostbusters is calling. Forcefully.
1. Chapter 1

**Prolog**

* * *

><p>The footsteps echoed on the bridge; light and shadow played around.<p>

There was a gasp, as someone realized he'd made a wrong turn.

The haggard, unkempt man turned around. "Oh shit..."

"Not very gentlemanly language, Yuzuru." a smooth voice chided.

A handsome man with slicked-back dark hair and a pencil mustache stepped out of the shadows. Not for the first time, Yuzuru had to ruefully note that the man pursuing him looked like a handsomer Snidely Whiplash come to life. And, regretfully, acted the part, too.

"I don't...I don't have it any more, Riley." Yuzuru said. "It's been sent to somewhere safe-someone who'll know enough to keep it away from you!"

"I am quite disappointed to hear that." Riley shook his head. "And who, pray tell, is it going to allegedly be 'safe from us' with?"

"Like I'll tell you!"

"I have ways of finding out." Riley sneered. He snapped his fingers. Three thugs shambled out of the darkness behind him-all wearing out of date clothes, and with pallid complexions, the occasional missing pieces, and absolutely atrocious teeth.

"Your zombies won't make me talk either!"

"I know." Riley replied. "They aren't here to make you talk-they're here to kill you."

Yuzuru gritted his teeth. He was not going to scream-if it was the last thing he ever did (literally), his pursuer was not going to get that satisfaction.

_No...there is a way._

Yuzuru Fuyuno jumped, his body hurling to the River Thames hundreds of feet below him.

Riley hissed. "Dammit!"

The little man next to him groveled "But...there's no way he could survive that fall, Master."

Riley backhanded the little man. "That isn't the point, Dimsworth! If he's dead, he can't tell us what he did with the amulet! And we have to find his body! Blast it all!"

He muttered and held his hands to his brow, shaking like he was having a seizure. After thirty tense seconds, he stopped, his manner suddenly calm again. "No...There is nothing to panic about. His dead body will be found. And the authorities will do our work for us."

He grinned, and began to chuckle ominously

* * *

><p><strong>Morning<strong>

* * *

><p>"...Joggers found the poor blighter, Chief Gates." one of the uniformed Bobbies said. "Washed up on the shore, just like this."<p>

"Chin up, Anderson-it's your first corpse!" Gates, the older of the two women not in uniform said. "Like many things, your first is always memorable."

"I needed that image in my head like another hole in it." the younger, shorter woman replied in clipped tones.

"It's all yours." Gates said. Sighing, the younger one pulled on a pair of rubber gloves, and began to investigate the mauled body.

"State of rigor...I'd say he's probably been dead between six and ten hours. Signs of some blunt trauma, and deep scratches, but I doubt he was dead before he hit the water."

"Male, I would say probably of Japanese extraction, approximately fifty years old." Anderson cocked an eyebrow as she pulled his wallet out. "Money still in here-a good six hundred Euros. Passport and tourist visa-Yuzuru Fuyuno, Tokyo Japan."

"Good guesswork." the senior officer complimented.

"It still doesn't tell us what he's doing here." Anderson replied. Her eyes narrowed, as something caught her attention.

"What did you see?"

The shorter woman pulled a soggy package out of the dead man's trench coat. It had an address seal still legible.

_ Tsukiko Lupin  
>1974 Wolfram Gardens<br>New York, NY 10012 _

Anderson looked at her superior. "It's heavy and..."

"The package is about to fall apart anyway." Gates nodded. "Just try to keep the label intact."

It didn't take much effort for Anderson to pry the waterlogged package apart. A gold medallion, with a figure of a dark, green eye, glinted in the early morning sun...

...But somehow, the sunlight seemed to have darkened, if only for a second...

* * *

><p>A New Generation<br>A New Beginning

**Ghostbusters 2021:  
>The Eye Of Aretpo<br>Part One**

From the Files of Dr. Fritz V. Baugh, GBI Historian  
>GBI Case File GBNY-2021-39001

* * *

><p><strong>New York City<strong>  
><strong>Columbia University<strong>  
><strong>June 8, 2021<strong>  
><strong>Ghostbusters Omnibus Timeline Year Thirty-Nine<strong>

* * *

><p>He looked at the placard with a slight amusement. Nearly four decades ago, the placard outside this nondescript building had read "Weaver Hall". Now it had a different sign:<p>

_Spengler Institute For Paranormal Research_

He chuckled. _I bet that Yeager dude is rolling in his grave..._

He went inside.

* * *

><p>The office door brought a wide grin to his face.<p>

_ E.M. Spengler, Ph.D.  
>J.C. Spengler, Ph.D<em>

Right inside it, a young man of average build and of mixed Oriental blood, dressed in a tie and khakis in blue and yellow that really didn't go well together, peered at him quizzically. A placard on his desk read "Jeremy Cranston"

"Um...may I help you?"

"I'm here to see Dr. Spengler." the visitor replied. "Either one, though preferably both."

"Ah, well, Dr. Johnathan is the only one here right now..."

"Thank you very much." the visitor nodded.

"But you can't go in there, yet."

The visitor smirked and nodded.

The building shook violently as a loud explosion filled their ears.

"Now I can go in there." the visitor stated matter of factly.

Jeremy looked at him, a bit amazed. "You've done this before?"

"You'd be surprised, Jeremy..."

* * *

><p>Smoke filled the room. At the center was a table, and a smoking piece of electronics with a couple of wires attached to it, leading to a protective shield.<p>

"Crumbs." came a deep voice from behind the blast shield. The man who emerged from it was tall (a good six and a half feet) and solidly built, if not necessarily muscular. His red muscle shirt matched his head of red hair, which ended in a squiggly tail at the back. He pulled off his protective goggles and peered at the experiment with a disgusted look.

"You know...this reminds me of the time you tried to make a sport coat explode." the robed man said dryly. A hood concealed his face.

"I needed magic cloth to make that work." The taller man retorted with practiced ease.

"Well, then I might be able to help you, JC..."

The red haired man's eyes went wide. "Holy shit..."

The robed man threw back the hood. He had large brown eyes that took in the room; his curly brown hair sported a battered set of aviator goggles. He regarded the taller men with a wide, dimpled grin. "Eric?" John said incredulously. "Eric Stantz?"

Eric laughed, and rolled his eyes. "It's so cool to hear that name again."

With that, the two embraced like two old friends who'd known each other pretty much their entire lives but hadn't seen each other lately-which was pretty much what they were.

"Wow. Look at you now...Doctor Johnathan Spengler, scientist. Blowing up labs and everything..."

"Family tradition." John replied cheerfully. "And you're apparently a Jedi Knight now..."

Eric laughed, and looked down at his robes. "That's a really long story...This your latest urban renewal project, JC?" Eric asked brightly.

"What I was trying to do is create a new, miniaturized ecto-confinement system. The tech's gotten so much better since the Eighties...it should be possible to create a ghost trap so small, it could be bundled with a complete PKE detection system."

Eric looked at the singed prototype. "I love it...it looks like a Digivice iC!"

John smirked. "I guess it kinda does...but it still needs some more work. I keep running into an instability in the confinement grid; finding the right balance of neutron flow to keep it stable at that size, able to compress the ectoplasmic particles into the amount of space I want..."

"I'm back five minutes and I'm getting a headache already." Eric shook his head. He turned as he noticed something-a poster on the wall (behind a layer of protective glass).

Pictured there were four men, each wearing a flight suit of similar cut and style, with the red and white "no ghost" logo on their right shoulders. One was a fit African American with short hair, in an aqua blue uniform with red trim, the nametag reading "ZEDDEMORE". Another was a handsome man with unruly dark hair, a Cheshire grin, and a brown uniform with greenish-blue trim; his nametag read "VENKMAN". A third was a tall, lanky man wearing a blue uniform with pinkish trim; his nametag read "SPENGLER", and though his hair was a blond pompadour, the squiggly tail at the back of it, and his jawline, were distinctly similar to John's. Eric grinned looking at the last man on the poster; he knew that wide face, dimpled grin, and merry brown eyes well. The uniform was tan, with brown trim, and the nametag read "STANTZ". At the bottom, the poster carried the familiar "GHOSTBUSTERS" title logo.

"Great poster, JC." Eric remarked. "Always gotta remember your roots."

"It was a promo picture taken in 1984, about the time the movie came out and GBI first formed." John explained. "It's the best one I could find, though I'd rather have found one with Mom on it, too, and maybe Slimer..."

Eric chuckled. "Well, it could be worse-it could be one of those shitty ones where they left Uncle Winston off."

John started to look at Eric a little more forcefully. "So start talking to me...grife, Stantz, I've barely seen you since you went off to that private school thirteen years ago. And then after you graduated...nothing. None of us...not Edie or me, not Jessica, or Charlene, or the Riveras, heard word one from you. I mean, Uncle Ray kept saying you were fine, but he and Aunt Liz are about the only people that seemed to know anything, and wouldn't tell us kids much."

Eric sighed, and broke eye contact. "Well...you know how I said everyone at ReinHagen Academy liked to call the place 'Hogwarts' as a joke? There's a really funny story behind that..."

They were interrupted by an annoyed female voice shouting out John's name.

"Uh-oh..." John smirked, looking past Eric.

"I could hear the explosion from halfway across the campus! I thought I told you to hold off on the latest tests of the GBX prototype until we could get to the Columbus facility. I seriously..."

Eric hadn't heard the voice in a while, but as it hadn't deeped with age anywhere near to the extent of John's, it was quite recognizable. He was about to snark that _"Hey! You're scaring the straights!"_but when he actually turned, he almost swallowed his tongue.

The last time Eric had seen John's sister, Eden Marie Spengler, she was only fifteen and still looked like a little girl-a tall little girl, but with all the figure of a gawky beanpole. This was no longer true. She was still tall-a good five eight-but had grown her blonde hair longer and had developed some very womanly curves that her loose shirt and sleeveless vest could not completely conceal; the red mini skirt she wore didn't even make a pretense of hiding the most spectacular set of legs Eric ever remembered seeing...

"Eric Stantz?" she exclaimed, intense blue eyes opening wide.

"Edie?" he managed to croak.

"We had not been informed you were back in town!" she said, giving him a quick, friendly hug that did nothing to help his elevated body temperature.

"I...er...wanted to surprise you all..." Eric admitted.

"Mission accomplished." John chuckled. "You timing is great-you got me out of another lecture and everything!"

Eden rolled her eyes. "Does anyone else know you're back?"

"Well, Pop of course...Mom's taking some time off and we arrived together, so I figured I'd be getting in their way pretty quick. I figured I'd start here." He shrugged. "I might be in the way at Jess's..."

"She'd probably still love to see you. Hayden can't monopolize all her time." John quipped.

Eric shook his head. "On the one hand, it's weird talking about Jessica Venkman getting married. On the other...well, how many years have they been..." he suddenly became very self-conscious of Eden standing right there, and decided not to say "banging each other stupid". "How many years have they been dating off and on anyway?"

"At least since...oh, I think right after you graduated and disappeared." John mused. "She tried to hide it, of course, but Charlene figured it out and clued the rest of us in..."

"It's got to be weird for Oscar, though."

"Perhaps." Eden added. "But while he is biologically related to both of them, they are not related to each other."

"I'll definitely have to touch base with Charlene, too." Eric chuckled. "She still in LA?"

Eden's expression returned to a more serious look. "I apologize, Eric, but the whole reason I came over here was to remind my brother that he needs to get home and wash the soot off of himself."

"What are you..." John stopped and slapped his forehead. "Crap. I did forget. I got so wrapped up in the negative ionic oscillation equations it vanished from my mind completely!"

Eric blinked. "What? What's going on?"

* * *

><p><strong>JFK International Airport<strong>

* * *

><p><em>"Flight 683 from Heathrow now arriving at Gate 140..."<em>

One little man watched with interest as the passengers from Heathrow finally disembarked. One in particular drew his interest-a short, brown-haired woman in sunglasses, dressed in a green sport coat and mini-skirt.

He pulled out his cell phone and dialed. When the other end answered..."It appears your guess was correct, Master. Should I follow her?" He listened intently for a few seconds, then nodded. "As you command."

* * *

><p><strong>Elsewhere<strong>

* * *

><p>Riley sighed. It had taken some work to dig into Yuzuru Fuyuno's background, but it had turned up some leads. <em>Fuyuno had no children of his own, but two sisters. One of them still lives in Tokyo, but the other lives in New York City...is an American citizen, in fact. While Mariko Fuyuno is not there now, her child is.<em>

He studied a print-out. _Tsukiko Marie Lupin, Born September 1, 1997...would not seem difficult to locate, and discover if she was indeed the one that Fuyuno sent the Eye to...except..._

Riley settled into his chair. Two pictures were on the table in front of him: one featured a solid man with a bushy mustache, a Japanese woman, and a little girl. Another featured the mustachioed man with a different girl, a man wearing a Catholic priest's collar, and a woman in a burgundy and dark blue dress. In his hand was a third picture-the woman in the burgundy dress with a slightly pudgy, auburn-haired man in a tan flight suit, its name tag reading "STANTZ"

_Tsukiko Lupin's godmother is Elizabeth Stantz, the wife of one of Ghostbusters International's Founders. This complicates the situation drastically. As much as I could not afford Scotland Yard sticking their noses into this matter, the attention of Ghostbusters International at this stage would be disastrous on a whole new level-far more powerful adversaries than I am have fallen to their do-gooding interference. I must be cautious...and have a plan. I cannot allow GBI to know of the Eye, and our plans for it, until it's too late to stop them._

Fortunately...if one knows where to look, there are always opportunities...

He smirked as he pulled a flyer from the papers he had piled on his desk.

_ **"Sons Of Ether Chapter Club Dinner**_

June 8, 2021

**Guests Of Honor:**  
>Professor Egon Spengler<br>Co-Winner, 2020 Nobel Prize for Physics  
>Co-Founder, Ghostbusters International<p>

Dr. Enrico Amor  
>Dean of the Sons of Ether"<p>

_GBI must be...distracted..._

* * *

><p><strong>Varrick and Moore<strong>

* * *

><p>Eric smiled as he left the taxi, taking in the sight. <em>I hadn't realized how much I missed the old place...<em> he thought as he stared at the red brick building, the former Hook and Ladder Number Eight firehouse. _I know we didn't live in New York when I was born...but I was only a year and a half old when Dad moved back here. I practically grew up in this old firehouse._

He gave the familiar sign a thumbs up and a smirk as he opened the door and walked in.

He wished he'd been able to visit with John and Eden a little more. They'd always been the ones of the sons and daughters of the four Ghostbusters founders he'd been closest to; he was practically right in the middle age-wise between them and Jessica Venkman, with her three years older than him and the Twins three years younger, but he felt like the Twins and he understood each other better. Charlene Zeddemore was even older, and the Rivera girls even younger. Max Miller, though..he'd always been an awesome playmate. _I need to ask how he's doing..._

But his return's timing had been unfortunate: John and Eden Spengler had an engagement for this evening that he wouldn't ask them to cancel even if he thought they would.

_"Well, Father is being honored by the Sons of Ether tonight." Eden explained. "It's the scientific research club that he has been a member of before we were even born."_

"They think him and your Dad winning that Nobel Prize last year is a big deal." John added. "So if we dress up and listen to their boring speeches, we get free food out of the deal!"

" 'Boring'?" Eden asked incredulously. "They are some of the most gifted scientific minds on the planet!"

"And also some of the most unstable." John retorted.

"The kinda guys who would turn a sport coat into a bomb, I know." Eric laughed. He understood better than they knew "Nah...go ahead. We can catch up tomorrow, then. I think I'll head off to Ghostbusters Central and see everyone else..."

He wasn't surprised that the first sound he heard was a loud, ecstatic burbling cry as something green flew out of the wall, a bear hug and green, slimey kisses on its mind...

...Except when Slimer got about a foot away from Eric, the confused green ghost bounced back.

"Whoops..." Eric said sheepishly. He made a quick gesture, and glanced at the Sun. _Only a couple more minutes until it's down anyway..._. "Try it now!"

Slimer looked thoughtful for about half a second, then tried the bear hug and slimey kisses again. This time it was successful. Eric rolled his eyes fondly as he wiped off some slime from his face..."I let that happen why?"

"Slimer! How many times have you been told to not attack the customers!" a female voice shouted. "We're sorry, Mister but..."

The speaker was a woman in her early forties, wearing a black flight suit bearing the Ghostbuster logo and the name "GRIFFIN" on its chest tag. "Eric?"

"Hey, Dr. Griffin." Eric said amiably. "Long time, no see, eh?"

"Hey! Everybody! Come look who's here!" she shouted.

Within moments, the old garage filled up with people happy to see him; like the Spengler Twins, they hadn't seen him in seven years.

Thirty eight years before, Eric's father, the Twins' father, and two other men had been the original Ghostbusters. From that little acorn eventually grew-albeit with a number of setbacks along the way-the premiere paranormal investigation and elimination company in the world.

Twenty four years ago, four students of the Twins' father had formed a new team of Ghostbusters. Those four former students-Dr. Kylie Griffin, her husband Eduardo Rivera, Garrett Miller, and Dr. Roland Jackson-were the ones greeting him now. And they weren't the only ones...

"Chita?" Eric gasped as she hugged him. She was two years younger than Eden, and like her seven years had worked some wonders on her. Conchita Rivera had always been an exuberant, cheerful person, and now Eric had to admit she was gorgeous too. _I know I really shouldn't keep comparing people to anime characters, but she's always reminded me of Mimi Tachikawa..._

"Welcome back!" Conchita beamed. "We've all missed you!"

Conchita's younger, and much more dour, sister Rose just kind of grunted-though it was an amiable grunt, at least. "Yeah. Nice to have you back."

"You're both looking great." Eric admitted. "Of course, I last saw you seven years ago, when Chita was a teenager and Rosey was only ten...you both gotta be breaking hearts by now."

Rose kind of looked away at that uncomfortably and mumbled something Eric couldn't make out.

Conchita laughed. "Well, not on purpose!"

"Conchita, hate to remind you, but the movie starts in an hour-we better get going." Rose poked her older sister, apparently thankful for the chance to end that particular thread of conversation.

"Oh yeah..." Conchita nodded. "Rose and I're going out to see a movie, because Mom and Dad are both on duty tonight."

"The Professor's going to some big gig, I know." Eric remarked. "I went to see John and Edie first, and they told me. So what are you seeing?"

"The _Snakes On A Plane_remake." Rose answered. "It was my turn to pick."

"Of course." Eric remarked.

The two girls looked at Eduardo expectantly. He sighed and pulled out a couple of twenty dollar bills. Conchita took the money and kissed him on the cheek. "Thanks, Daddy."

After they left, Roland explained "It's kinda like old times, in a way. Peter's in LA, Winston's at Fort Arnold. Your Dad's taking vacation time, but since it's with your Mom I guess you already knew that."

Eric nodded.

"So it's just Team Extreme tonight." Garrett said. "So they teach you poker at that hoity-toity school, Eric?"

"Just as long as it ain't Texas Hold-Em..." Eric laughed.

* * *

><p><strong>Wolfram Gardens<strong>

* * *

><p>The sound of knocking at her front door was not at the top of her list of ways to be roused from sleep.<p>

She grumbled as she made herself wake up. As she sat upright in her bed, she looked at the clock and just about passed back out. "Gaia's Bounty!" she shouted out loud. _It's almost dinner time..._ She cast an eye at the other shape sleeping in her bed, still snoring, and smirked. _We really did wear each other out..._

Deciding not to answer the door buck naked-at least not this time, though it was a great way to get discounts on pizza delivery-she grabbed a bathrobe and hurriedly put it on as the knock came again. "Keep your pants on! I'm on my way!" _It can't be Makayla forgetting her key again...she'd be cussing at me by now...I didn't order West Pier Pizza in my sleep again, did I?_

She was mildly disappointed when she looked out the peep hole to see a non-male visitor. When she opened the door, she looked her visitor over-a short woman with shoulder length dark hair, dressed in a green sport coat and mini-skirt. While she preferred male company..._Nice legs on this one...even if she dresses like a cop or something._

"Are you Tsukiko Lupin?" the woman asked her with a British accent a kilometer thick.

"Tsukiko MarieLupin." she replied. "I prefer to use my middle name-I don't have to spell it for everybody. Who wants to know?"

The woman pulled out a badge. "Detective Inspector Tessa Jane Anderson. Scotland Yard's Occult Crimes Unit."

Marie chuckled. "Well, I was thinking you dressed like a cop. You're kind of far away from London, Inspector. I can't see how I broke any of England's vice laws since I've never been there...though I can try..."

Anderson looked at her for a few seconds, apparently struck speechless by the non sequitur. "Erm...are you familiar with this man?" Anderson pulled out a picture. "His credentials identified him as Yuzuru Fuyuno of Tokyo, Japan."

Marie took the picture, starting to get worried. "Uncle Yuz? He's my mother's older brother...used to play baseball...what's going on?"

Anderson exhaled. "There's no easy way to say this, but simply...two days ago your Uncle's dead body washed up on a Thames riverbank."

"Oh God..." Marie exhaled, putting her hand over her mouth, looking away. "What was he doing in England?"

"We were hoping you might be able to tell us." Anderson answered. "Your name came up in the course of the investigation."

"What?"

Anderson opened her purse, pulling out an evidence bag. "When his body was recovered, he had a package on his person bearing this address label."

Marie squinted at the plastic bag, and the label did, indeed, bear her address. "Uncle Yuz was like Ojii-san...Grandpa...insisted on using my first name. What was in it?"

"This." Anderson answered, reaching into her purse again. "We were hoping you might be able to tell us what it is."

When Anderson produced the second bag, and the medallion within, Marie felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up. Just touching the bag made her fingers tingle unpleasantly. "I've never seen this before...but it gives me the f-ing creeps..."

* * *

><p><em>"The Scotland Yard detective is inside Lupin's apartment."<em>Dimsworth's voice came over the speaker phone.

"Hold position until my signal." Riley told him. "Then it's time to find where Tsukiko Lupin has hidden the Eye."

_"Yes, Master"_

Riley stood up, adjusted his bow tie, and donned his black cape with a showy flourish. "And now for the distraction that will keep the Ghostbusters preoccupied. It's showtime!"

* * *

><p>To Be Continued<p>

* * *

><p><strong>Ghostbusters<strong> is©1984 Columbia Pictures. **Ghostbusters 2** is ©1989 Columbia Pictures **The Real Ghostbusters** is ©1986 Columbia Pictures Television and DiC Productions. **Extreme Ghostbusters** is ©1997 Columbia Pictures Television and Adelaide Productions. The 88MPH comic book is © 2004 Sony and 88MPH Studios. _Ghostbusters: The Return_ is © 2004 Sony and iBooks. _Ghostbusters_ by IDW 2008-Present Sony and IDW. _Ghostbusters: Ghost Busted_ 2008 Sony and TokyoPop. _Ghostbusters: The Video Game_ 2009-2011 Sony and Atari. No use of characters and images associated with the above is intended for profit, or to challenge the copyrights of the above holders. Characters and ideas not appearing in the above copyrighted works are to be considered © their respective creators

Eric Stantz, Marie Lupin, Yuzuru Fuyuno, Charlene Zeddemore, and the Inquisitors created by OgreBBQ. Johnathan and Eden Spengler, TJ Anderson, Jeremy Cranston created by Fritz Baugh. Jessica Venkman and the Rivera Sisters created by EGB Fan. Detective Chief Rebbecca Gates created by Ben King. Marie's friend Makayla created by Ghostdiva.

The Sons of Ether are inspired by the Tradition of the same name from White Wolf's _Mage: The Ascension_, created by Stewart Wieck and Mark ReinHagen. Developed for the GBOT continuity by Fritz Baugh.

* * *

><p>#3702-51508r<br>GGB89-06  
>102<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

**Ghostbusters 2021: The Eye of Aretpo, Part Two**

From the Files of Dr. Fritz V. Baugh, GBI Historian  
>GBI Case File GBNY-2021-39001

* * *

><p><strong>Sedgewick Hotel<strong>  
><strong>June 8, 2021<strong>

* * *

><p><em><strong>Sons Of Ether Chapter Club Dinner<strong>_

_June 8, 2021_

_**Guests Of Honor:**_  
><em>Professor Egon Spengler<em>  
><em>Co-Winner, 2020 Nobel Prize for Physics<em>  
><em>Co-Founder, Ghostbusters International<em>

_Dr. Enrico Amor_  
><em>Dean of the Sons of Ether<em>

" 'Guest of Honor'...'Nobel Prize for Physics'...you have no idea how much it does my heart good to see you talked about like that. Finally." the grey haired woman said, her face beaming.

"Erm...well..." the white haired man said, slightly sheepishly, removing and cleaning his eyeglasses.

"She's right, of course." Eden told him. "We're biased, but it's the whole world realizing what we already knew..."

"Yes, well..." the older man coughed, returning the spectacles to his face. "I'm afraid that I don't deal with celebrity as well as your Uncle Peter, Eden."

"Who does?" the older woman rolled her eyes.

As they shared a chuckle, John came up to them, having caught up to the rest after parking his car.

Now in their seventh decade of life, the years had taken their toll on Professor Egon Spengler and the former Janine Melnitz. The Professor's limp, which had started to develop in his late thirties, had become more pronounced-he walked with a cane all of the time now. His wife had arthritis that could make every day a struggle. But there was still a lot of life in their faces-especially when together.

As she so often had over the years, Janine took a long look at her husband and children, taking a snapshot with her mind to store in the trove of "photos" she treasured most. The day he'd asked her to marry him. The day of that wedding, with friends and family-so many now no longer here-all around. The day those two she saw so much of him in entered the world as two tiny, adorable bundles.

Now her son was a man even taller than his father, less lanky, but with his jaw line and intense eyes. Wearing a sport coat and tie, which didn't suit his usual style quite as much as they did his father, but through a mother's eyes fit him so darn well.

Now her daughter was a woman with her father's reserve and seriousness, with blue eyes just as intense, tall and beautiful with her long blonde hair. Even through a mother's eyes, Janine knew that her twentysomething self would probably have been seething with jealousy of Eden Marie Spengler.

_My children_ Janine thought. It wasn't from Egon that John's red hair or Eden's taste for blocky jewelry and mini-skirts came from (the latter thankfully subdued for the occasion)

_Our children_. Egon looked, as he often did, a bit behind the times (John had fondly joked that "Dad dresses like he could be the next _Doctor Who_") but through it all, she still saw the gawky, endearingly awkward, transcendentally wise man she met nearly four decades before.

"So this is it?" John asked, as he looked at the sign. "This is the notorious ball room?"

Egon chuckled dryly. "Yes...Good grief, I don't think I've been here since that day..." And like his wife a few moments before, memories drifted into his mind...

* * *

><p><em>The ballroom was massive, tables with white linen cloths lay beneath five chandeliers, a buffet table and ornate bar sat off to one side, green plans were everywhere, fancy table arrangements sat among the sparkling silverware and shiny porcelain. They hid in the shadows behind a heavy drape, studying the large room for the ghost. Ray studied the room through his Ecto Goggles, which gave him a standard view of the room, but had a hint of green from background PKE radiation...there was a brighter source near the ceiling.<em>

_"There it is, on the ceiling." Ray directed, the green ghost was circling around the large chandelier in the middle of the room._

_"That's the one that got me." Peter replied, like he'd been picking out a mugger in a police line-up._

* * *

><p><em>"I did that! I did that! That's my fault!" Ray replied quickly as they inspected the damage.<em>

_"That's okay. The table broke the fall." Peter replied sarcastically, studying the mess._

* * *

><p><em>"Egon!" Peter shouted, the cake on the banquet table exploded and the table itself collapsed. Egon's beam continued, assaulting the bar, bottles and glasses exploded in a flurry of dangerous crystal fragments, then the beam cut a large chunk out of the solid oak bar. "Okay, all right, hold it! Hold it! Hold it! Whoa! Nice shooting, Tex!" Peter replied as Egon destroyed half of the remainder of the bar, the ghost flew up quickly to the cover of the ceiling.<em>

* * *

><p><em>"Wait, wait! I always wanted to do this." Peter replied before they turned over another table. He gripped the tablecloth, and pulled. The wine glasses toppled over, breaking while the dinner plates scooted along the surface of the table. The cutlery flew everywhere. "And the flowers are still standing!" Peter cheered<em>

* * *

><p><em>"We came, we saw, we kicked its ass!"<em>

* * *

><p>"When it all really began..."<p>

"Whoa! Doctor Spengler! Gnarly!"

The four Spenglers turned to see a fiftysomething man wearing a bellhop's uniform with an incongruous pair of flip flops.

"I...beg your pardon?" Egon asked hesitantly.

"I'm Bud! This is so totally radical! I, like, remember when you were here the first time and Old Man Grout was pissed about it for weeks! So, like, how's Slimer doing?"

"He's doing fine." Egon answered, noticing a slight whiff of what his old friend Peter Venkman liked to euphemistically refer to as a "medicinal herb". "I'll be sure to tell him I saw you here."

"Awesome!" Bud said excitedly. "He needs to stop by more often-Old Man Grout's been dead for like...oh...at least ten years...maybe more. I'm trying to remember which President we had...was it Dubya or Barack..."

The elevator dinged, distracting Bud's train of thought. "Oh! Gotta go, Doc! Try not to blow up the ball room this time, okay? They'd just make me clean it up again..."

Janine looked at Egon when the elevator door closed. "That guy's been a bellhop here...for forty years?"

"I guess some people do find contentment in a lack of goals." Eden shrugged.

When they were admitted to the ball room, it was an...interesting sight. Numerous men-and a few women-often wearing ill-fitting suits and strange haircuts. There was one man with tinfoil on his head arguing with another man, who was shouting that "Steam will save the world!"

"Professor Spengler?" a voice accented in Italian asked.

They turned see a short man with olive skin and curled black hair adjusting his glasses. He was dressed in a jacket and scarf in shades of green.

_I think he's another one of your regenerations, Pop..._ John joked to himself. _The scarf is very Sylvester McCoy..._

"Yes." Egon replied, shaking the man's hand. "I'm afraid I don't..."

"No, you wouldn't." the man shook his head gently. "Dr. Enrico Amor, the current Etheric Dean..."

"You're Dr. Amor?" Egon replied, a bit of surprise obvious. "I must apologize, but with your reputation I admit I expected someone...er..."

"Older, Professor?" Amor chuckled. "Sometimes the aged have the wisdom to refuse a boring job like mine..." He kissed Janine's hand. "Mrs. Spengler, an honor." She just kind of nodded and made an agreeable noise.

"And you two must be the Twins." he said, kissing Eden's hand in similar fashion to her mother's.

"If we must, we must. On the whole, I'd rather be Ewan MacGregor..." John quipped as he shook Amor's hand.

"The Twins have much significance in mythology." Amor said, fixing John in a stare. "From Romulus and Remus, to the Gemini myth of Castor and Pollux. A man and woman who shared the womb, some say, are the most auspicious of them all...the 'Sacred Twins' some lore calls them. For example, some versions of the Gemini myth say that Helen, not Pollux, was the true twin of Castor..."

He broke off and closed his eyes, his face apologetic. "My apologies for babbling. Astrology is a bit of a side hobby of mine...so much rich symbolism. If you will all excuse me, I do have to make sure everything's ready..." With a last half bow, Amor walked off.

"Good thing we didn't mention we're Geminis." John quipped. "He probably never would have shut up."

"He seemed very charming." Janine countered. "Though I'm surprised he seemed more interested in you than your sister..."

Eden looked at her mother as though she was crazy.

"Maybe he's a ten percenter, like Lars Wallance." John shrugged. "All I can say, is that something in that look gave me the creeps. Being a ninety percenter, I think I'll stay away, thanks."

* * *

><p><strong>Ghostbusters Central<strong>

* * *

><p>"...Stupid thing dismantled my wheelchair!" Garrett continued his old war story. "So of course I beat the everloving crap out of it! There was Handicapable-American pride at stake here!"<p>

"Wow." Eric said. "Beating up a gremlin with your bare hands! Anybody who thinks being in a wheelchair doesn't mean you can be a good Ghostbuster doesn't know what they're talking about."

"Garrett won an award from a disabled rights group once." Roland added. "Him, Dr. Baugh in LA, Rob Statler in Philly. They consider them good role models..."

"I keep forgetting Mr. Statler's deaf." Eric nodded. "You wouldn't know it from the way he does his job..."

"So speaking of jobs..." Kylie asked, looking at Eric. "Told any of the others yet what Rein•Hagen Academy was really training you for?"

Eric sighed. "Not yet...I was sorta working toward telling JC about it earlier, but then Edie showed up and things got a bit...derailed."

Eduardo drew a card. "Is it just me, Rico, or I see a bit of a flush as you say that?"

"Huh? What?" Eric was clearly flustered by this.

"Thought so." Eduardo smirked. "I been developing a keen eye for the signs of male libido. Having two daughters does that to a guy."

There were some chuckles from Garrett and Roland. Kylie just rolled her eyes. "Eden is a good woman, Eric. But I gotta warn you if you're wanting to go there: she takes a lotafter her father..."

"Well...then..." Eric chuckled sheepishly. "Then she's not involved with anyone. Who knows? Patience can work wonders...just ask her Mom..."

"Who got frustrated and banged an accountant in the meantime." Garrett quipped. "You gonna ante up or fold, Torgo?"

"I ain't losin' to you this time, Roller Boy." Eduardo retorted, drawing another card. Slimer was floating behind Eduardo, trying to babble advice.

"I admit, I'm hoping now that I've put in some dues in the Order, I was kind of thinking of seeing what I can do with GBI." Eric said. "I'm hoping one Franchise or another might want a guy with my talents."

"Vincent and Arcane Division don't want you?" Kylie raised an eyebrow.

Eric exhaled. "They probably would take me. But in all honesty...after being subjected to Dr. Belmont's training regimen for three years, I'd like to be somewhere else. Be my own man just a little. I know that's hard to do when you join a company and have the same last name of one of its founders, but it's even worse if you look like you're sponging off your teacher too."

Kylie chuckled dryly. "Belmont's scary enough to work with. I'd hate to think what having him as a teacher would be like."

"Believe, your Latin has to be letter perfect, and heaven forbid you get less than a 95% on one of his Magic Theory exams..." Eric smirked. "I think if he didn't have the Gift he would have been an English Professor or something..."

Roland sighed disgustedly, dropping his cards. "I'm out."

Slimer babbled. Eduardo gave him an evil glare.

"Now or never, Torgo." Garrett grinned.

"You're bluffin', Roller Boy." Eduardo retorted. "Show'em!"

"Read'em and weep, Torgo. Full house!"

"I hated that show." Eduardo groaned as he watched Garrett pick up the pile of poker chips. "Uncle Joey sounded like a moron." Slimer babbled something that sounded suspiciously like "Told you so."

* * *

><p><strong>Hotel Sedgewick<strong>

* * *

><p>"The Sons of Ether are a diverse, somewhat fractuous society." Dr. Amor told the crowd, which had mostly quieted. "But there are a number of names we all hold in esteem. Albert Einstein and Werner Heisenberg, who defined modern quantum theory and smashed the paradigm of the static, unchangeable universe, from science. Alessandro Volta, who founded the Voltaic Order. Dr. Will Murray Hazzard, who led the Crime Patrol during the second World War. Lorenzo Golo, founder of the Natural Philosopher's Guild in the Twelfth Century."<p>

"But above them have stood two names. Aretus of Troy, writer of the scroll later named by the Arabs who translated it the _Kitab Al-Alacir_, which first postulated, centuries before Aristotle, the Fifth Element-the primal essence of the universe itself, which could be manipulated by a philosopher with the right level of knowledge and will. Quintessence. The power to change the universe without the help of the gods."

"With him, we revere Roger Bacon, the Thirteenth Century Franciscan Friar and alchemist, who laid the groundwork of the scientific method that would lead the world out of the dark ages of superstition and misery. And in founding the alchemical guild known as the Solificati, out of which later grew the Voltaic Order, which became the Electrodyne Engineers, which over a century ago became the Sons of Ether, Roger Bacon is, indeed, our forefather."

John's mind started to drift...he knew it all by heart from his own initiation into the society; he looked around and regarded some of the faces his father had pointed out to him. Dr. Mark Brandenburg, one of Egon's physics students in the late 1980's. Dr. Dennis Fischer, alias "Morehemoodus", an "atomic wizard" who aided the original Ghostbusters back in 1989, during the advent of Astorath.

One person that was more that just a face to John couldn't make it-Dr. Fritz Baugh, temporal theoretician and one of the founders of the Ghostbusters West Coast franchise, had to cancel at the last minute when one of his four daughters fell out of a tree and was hospitalized.

"But now, perhaps, the third great mind of our society walks among us. In 1973, a the age of fifteen, MIT graduate and Columbia University parapsychology student Egon Spengler first attained a tangible reading of the 'x-energy' that he later identified as Psycho Kinetic Energy. In 1982, the twenty-five year old Doctor Spengler submitted the groundbreaking paper _Psychokinetic Energy and the Quantum Flux_...it was derided by mainstream science..."

There were several loud boos and a shout of "Mainstream science sucks ass!"

"...Derided by mainstream science, and may have contributed to Dr. Spengler's firing the next May by Columbia."

_Well, that and all the coeds Uncle Peter was harassing_ John smirked.

"...But hit the Sons of Ether like a bomb. In a mere ten years, Egon Spengler had found the Quintessence. The Ether wasn't as our Nineteenth Century predecessors had believed it would be-but it was real. That in itself would earn Dr. Spengler our undying acclaim, but he went on to attain further breakthroughs, most notably in mapping the structure of the dimensional axis."

"Furthermore, with his three closest friends, he co-founded the greatest boon to paranormal research the world has ever seen-Ghostbusters International."

"Last year, the world at large finally acknowledged the genius we've been aware of for four decades. Dr. Spengler and his co-researcher, Dr. Raymond Stantz, share the greatest honor a scientist can attain: the Nobel Prize. Now, tonight, we acknowledge the third great mind of the Sons of Ether: Professor Egon Spengler!"

There was a round of loud, heartfelt applause as Egon somewhat sheepishly took Dr. Amore's place at the podium.

"Erm...thank you. Well, I just got in from Cleveland, and let me tell you, my teleportation pod is exhausted..."

There were several guffaws, while Janine just rolled her eyes. _Scientist humor_

* * *

><p>A glove tugged a dark sleeve. A lip curled.<p>

"Now, Dimsworth." he said quietly into the cell phone.

_"Yes, Master"_

He twirled the silk top hat on his index finger, and then dropped it gracefully onto his head

* * *

><p><strong>Apartment of Marie Lupin<strong>

* * *

><p>"Yuzuru Fuyuno was the oldest of my Mom's siblings." Marie said, staring at the the morgue picture in shock. "Mom was the middle child...my grandparents moved from Japan back in the Eighties, and opened a restaurant...Uncle Yuz was old enough by then he stayed back in Japan, and became a baseball player. Mom and Aunt Yuki-who was still a baby really-came with Grandpa and Grandma Fuyuno. He..."<p>

Anderson just stood there silently.

Marie, thankfully, was dressed now, in a lowcut white shirt that exposed her midriff and a pair of blue sweatpants. Anderson had to admit the green bandanna with the yellow check pattern Marie was wearing was oddly attention-gathering.

"Uncle Yuz was a lot more like Grandpa...really 'old country'...wasn't really thrilled when both Mom and Aunt Yuki ended up involved with 'Gaijin'" Marie chuckled ruefully. She shook her head. "What was he doing getting killed in London?"

"So you have no idea what this item is?" Anderson asked.

"Why would I?" Marie answered.

"He did send it to you." Anderson noted. "Perhaps there is some reason he had that you are not aware of...at least not immediately?"

"Like what? I..." Marie's eyes narrowed. "Didn't you say something about being in the 'Occult Crimes Unit'?"

Anderson nodded slightly. "Well, we are police detectives with all of the ability to investigate 'normal' crimes. But there were reports that some odd men were sighted about the same time and place that it's estimated your Uncle apparently jumped into the River Thames. They said the odd men looked like 'zombies'..."

" 'Zombies'?" Marie shook her head. "I hear they have lousy teeth..."

Anderson didn't react.

Marie sighed, and looked around the apartment. Her companion of the previous night-Dave or Don or whatever his name was-had been roused and hastily sent packing, which was pretty easy once he realized that Inspector Anderson was a cop, not a prospective third participant in a three-way. _Though the look on Miss Inspector's face when he suggested that was priceless._Marie stared at the gold medallion that her uncle had apparently died for.

"If you're in the Occult Crimes Unit..." Marie finally said. "You might not think I'm crazy when I say that maybe it was sent to me because of who my Dad is. More importantly, who some of his friends are..."

"Oh?"

"One of my Dad's friends is Ray Stantz, one of the big shot Ghostbusters from back in the 1980's. Come to think of it, his son Eric left a message on my machine saying he'd be back in town today..." Marie smirked. "He was always an energetic kid. I bet he's grown up quite nicely..."

"You think...perhaps..." Anderson mused. "Your uncle sent this to you because you might be able to get it to the Ghostbusters?"

"It's as good a theory as any." Marie shrugged.

"There is a Ghostbusters franchise in England." Anderson pointed out. "Why wouldn't he have contacted Dr. King and his group? They'd be much closer."

"How the hell should I know?" Marie sputtered. "It was just a theory!"

Any further discussion was interrupted by the sound of breaking glass.

* * *

><p><strong>Sedgewick Hotel<strong>

* * *

><p>Egon blithely said he had a "few short remarks prepared" and pulled a scroll from his pocket that unraveled six feet.<p>

"He got that gag from your Uncle Peter." Janine whispered with amusement.

Eden listened to her father tell the story of the time he got molecularly destabilized and sent to the Nether World. She'd heard it before, of course, but it was fascinating to watch the reaction to it around the room.

She felt a surge of pride as the collection of eccentrics applauded him. She'd taken a few psychology courses, and was familiar with Freud's theorem: a woman's first male role model, the man which any other will find himself compared to consciously or unconsciously, is usually her father. _I know most little girls think their Daddy is the smartest man in the world...but how many of them can point to his Nobel Prize as proof?_

Eden smirked vaguely, remembering when she was four years old and her mother had shocked her with the assertion that _"Eden, dear, your Dad may be the smartest man in the world, but there are some things even he doesn't know."_

Of course, few women in the world had the other male presence she did: a fraternal twin brother. She had to envy him some times-he was more like their mother. Emotional displays she found sloppy and uncomfortable seemed so much easier to Johnathan.

She was broken from this contemplation by a sound from Johnathan's pocket.

"You did not bring..." Janine rolled her eyes.

John sheepishly extracted his prototype PKE meter-the "GBX" he'd dubbed it-from his coat pocket.

Janine chuckled quietly. "You really didn't fall far from that tree, did you?"

Egon's dissertation on the hospitality habits of the demon Tolay was interrupted by a large puff of smoke in front of the podium.

Out of the smoke came a man dressed in a black tuxedo and top hat, complete with white gloves and a cane; his slicked-back black hair and pencil mustache adorned a handsome, if somewhat seedy, looking face.

"Prepare to be amazed, Ladies and Gentlemen, by the magnificent magic of the proficient prestidigitator..." the man made a flourish with his cane. "Zoraldo!"

"A magic show?" Eden heard one voice in the crowd say. "That is so tacky."

"This has gotto be Dr. Volcano's idea." another quipped. "He always had the weirdest sense of humor..."

"You've seen lesser magicians pull rabbits from out of their hats..." Zoraldo gestured, and with a -poof- his hat had turned into a sleepy looking lapine. "Well watch as Zoraldo turns his hat into a rabbit!"

"This is worse than that guy in LA who claims he's a vampire." another heckler interjected.

"Now...we need a volunteer from the audience!" Zoraldo said, snapping his fingers, causing a gaudy magic cabinet to appear in a puff of smoke.

He looked too and fro. "You, Young Lady!" he said brightly, gently taking Janine Spengler by the hand and pulling her to the box.

"You gotta be kidding me." she said sarcastically.

"Mom..." John started to protest. A light on top of his GBX was starting to blink rhythmically.

"Skeptical, Ma'am?" Zoraldo asked cheerfully.

"I've been around a few years, Kiddo." Janine retorted. "It's all done with mirrors and trap doors."

"Maybe." Zoraldo nodded. "But watch closely!"

He pushed her into the box, and snapped his fingers.

"Arbadacarba! Otserp ognahc!"

There was a flash of red light.

Janine Melnitz Spengler disappeared.

John Spengler stood up. "Pop!"

He didn't even need to say anymore than that-Egon now noticed the blinking PKE light, the tone in his son's voice, and a flash of memory. Zoraldo wasn't Calimari, wasn't using Houdini's magic box...but the similarity had become noticeable.

"Very clever, Mister Zoraldo..." Egon said forcefully, walking to the magician. He was already angry with himself for being caught so flat-footed. "Now if you don't mind-I'd like my wife back!"

"Why, Professor, you cut me to the quick!" Zoraldo said, with exaggerated mock hurt. "I will certainly reunite you with your charming wife posthaste!"

"I don't like the sound of..." Eden started to say.

Zoraldo shoved Egon, and he stumbled into the box. Before he could get his bearings, Zoraldo snapped his fingers again, not even bothering with the invocation phrase.

In a similar flash of light, Professor Egon Spengler vanished from view.

"Father!" Eden said, concern showing in her voice.

John was a little quicker to act-he was out of his seat, looking ready to lunge at Zoraldo and tear his throat out.

"Thanks one and all!" Zoraldo said cheerfully. "I also do Bar Mitzvahs!"

Before John could get close, he snapped his fingers again. A new plume of smoke billowed, and John appeared at the other side of it, choking and grasping at thin air.

"Johnathan! What happened?" Eden asked.

John just snarled, and looked at his blinking meter.

"That magic show sucked." they heard one of the Etherites say loudly.

Sitting not far away, Dr. Amor stroked his chin, a look of mild concern, tinged with curiosity, on his face.

* * *

><p>Marie and Anderson turned to see the main window of the former's apartment shatter, a hand reaching inside. A withered, emaciated, very pallid hand.<p>

The front door was thrown open. Another emaciated form was standing there, skin hanging off of it in patches.

"See?" Marie said dryly. "Their teeth are terrible..."

* * *

><p>To Be Continued<p>

* * *

><p>Ectozone Editorial Staff: Dr. Vincent Belmont, EGB Fan, TheRazorsEdge<br>Additional Beta: Ghostdiva, Kingpin, OgreBBQ, Brian Reilly

* * *

><p>Scenes from <em>Ghostbusters<em> are from an adaptation by Ben King, of the original movie written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis

Eric Stantz, Marie Lupin, Yuzuru Fuyuno, Charlene Zeddemore, and the Inquisitors created by OgreBBQ. Johnathan and Eden Spengler, TJ Anderson, Jeremy Cranston, Dr. Amor, Zoraldo created by Fritz Baugh. Jessica Venkman and the Rivera Sisters created by EGB Fan. Captain Rebbecca Gates created by Ben King. Marie's friend Makayla created by Ghostdiva.

The Sons of Ether are inspired by the Tradition of the same name from White Wolf's _Mage: The Ascension_, created by Stewart Wieck and Mark Rein•Hagen. The Solificati and Electrodyne Engineers also come from _Mage_. Developed for the GBOT continuity by Fritz Baugh, with the advice of Vincent Belmont.

ReinHagen Academy is, of course, named for Mark ReinHagen, co-creator of _Ars Magica_ and the original World of Darkness.

* * *

><p>#3740-110408t bho44<br>GGB89-06  
>105<p> 


	3. Chapter 3

**Ghostbusters 2021: The Eye of Aretpo, Part Three**

From the Files of Dr. Fritz V. Baugh, GBI Historian  
>GBI Case File GBNY-2021-39001

* * *

><p><em><strong>ZORALDO!<strong>_

_I await your words, Great One _

_**Report your progress. Do you have the Eye?** _

_No, Great One...but all is working to our benefit. I told you of the Ghostbusters...I have sent one of their leaders to a regio. My trap was perfect-they suspected nothing until it was too late. _

_**And what use is this to me?** _

_Finding them will be the focus of the Ghostbusters attention. Our true plan may proceed-and if necessary, I can even barter their lives to the Lupin woman for return of the Eye. _

_The Eye will be taken from her...or she will surrender it to me! Either way it will be mine! _

_**Ours, Zoraldo. Ours. Do not forget who has given you this power...and this mission.** _

_Ever in your service, Great One. _

* * *

><p><strong>Apartment of Marie Lupin<strong>

* * *

><p>"You think...perhaps..." Anderson mused. "Your uncle sent this to you because you might be able to get it to the Ghostbusters?"<p>

"It's as good a theory as any." Marie shrugged.

"There is a Ghostbusters franchise in England." Anderson pointed out. "Why wouldn't he have contacted Dr. King and his group? They'd be much closer."

"How the hell should I know?" Marie sputtered. "It was just a theory!"

Any further discussion was interrupted by the sound of breaking glass.

Marie and Anderson turned to see the main window of the former's apartment shatter, a hand reaching inside. A withered, emaciated, very pallid hand.

The front door was thrown open. Another emaciated form was standing there, skin hanging off of it in patches.

"See?" Marie said dryly. "Their teeth are terrible..."

Anderson looked to and fro, and grabbed the first thing that looked even vaguely like a viable weapon: a plastic broom handle, which seemed to have ended it's expected association with an actual broom. Considering what she'd already learned about Marie Lupin and her absent roommate's lifestyle, Anderson decided she didn't want to give the issue any more consideration than that.

With a whirling flourish, she slammed the broomstick into two zombies in a quick, deft motion.

"Anderson! Down!" she heard Marie shout.

She ducked, as one of the zombies on the other side of the room exploded in the aftermath of an explosive burst of sound.

Marie cocked the shotgun she was brandishing, and fired again. Another ex-zombie added to the stains on her carpet.

Anderson twirled the broomstick again, and kicked one of the zombies out the window; it hit the street three stories below with a loud thud.

"You're a cop-don't you have a gun or something?" Marie snarled, dropping the spent shotgun and raising a large pistol.

"I take it you've never tried to get through American Homeland Security with a firearm." Anderson retorted.

"Not if I let them know I have it, no."

Anderson dispatched another zombie, and the plastic broomhandle finally shattered from the exertion. She took a tentative peek into the hallway. "Clear-but we can't be certain for how long."

"Great. Here." Marie handed her a gun. "It's a little more efficient than spin kicks."

"You're also aware that, as a rule, English officers do not..."

"Less talk, more running from zombies, Detective."

"Grab the amulet." Anderson said.

"Yeah. Dollars to doughnuts, being attacked by zombies right after I got it ain't a coincidence." Marie nodded, grabbing the parcel holding the golden amulet. "Not after zombies killed my Uncle Yuz for it already."

They quickly sprinted into the hallway-just as a door opened. Marie's nosey neighbor Mrs. Tugfiogl. She gave the two women a skunk eye.

That same moment, the elevator bell rang and it opened, revealing four more zombies.

"Oh shit." Marie snarled.

Mrs. Tugfiogl screamed and ran back into her apartment.

"The stairs!" Anderson shouted.

Thankfully, they were quicker than the zombies. Marie shot the lead one, sending him falling back onto his fellows, slowing their progress.

"Nice moves back there, though." Marie complimented. "You wanted to be a Jedi when you grew up, didn't you?"

Anderson's cheeks colored slightly. "Well, that or a Green Lantern. I had the worst crush on Ewan MacGregor when I was a child."

"Figures." Marie rolled her eyes. "I thought he was better in _Trainspotting_ anyway."

* * *

><p><strong>Ghostbusters Central<strong>

* * *

><p>"They said <span>what<span>?" Eric shouted, incredulously.

"John and Eden said the Professor and Janine just got whisked away to another dimension." Roland replied, groaning as he zipped up his flight suit, brushing a bit of dried slime off the "Jackson" name tag. "We gotta go check this out."

"Let me come with you!" Eric said, excitedly.

"No." Kylie shook her head. "You're not a GBI employee, and we know what kind of trouble that could get us in. Stay here in case your Dad or one of the others calls."

"We also told John and Eden to get back here immediately." Roland added. "If someone's after the Professor and Janine, they could be after them, too. They'll be safer here than anywhere else."

"I bet JC didn't take to well to that idea." Eric chuckled.

"Well, no." Roland agreed. "But he didn't argue, either."

"You wanna be useful, Enrico..." Eduardo stroked his goatee. "Check the databases-maybe there's something on this whackjob who kidnapped them. What did Juan say his name was?"

" 'Zoraldo' " Garrett said mocking. "He's sure got the name to be a corny stage magician, if nothing else."

"But I'm..."

"We know, Eric. But we've been doing this since you were in diapers-trust us." Roland laid a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

Eric looked conflicted, but finally relented. "Zoraldo, huh..." He grinned. "I won't let you down, Doctor J!"

The four Extreme Ghostbusters gave him a thumbs up as they got into the ECTO-1 and drove into the night. Eric watched the vehicle leave with just a hint of want in his eye, but shook it off.

_"Zoraldo", huh..._ Eric mused. _Come to think of it, that name does ring a bell somewhere..._

* * *

><p>"Get back to Ghostbusters Central..." John muttered to himself as he waited for the light to turn. "Like I'm still some baby they can order around..."<p>

Eden was sitting in the back seat, concerns about how her brother was stewing only adding to the barely contained sense of panic about her parents' conditions. "What else are we going to do? We're not Ghostbusters."

The car was a red 2015 Volkswagon Beetle Hybrid convertible that John had purchased on his sixteenth birthday; the top was currently down, which only made Eden even more jumpy, but John apparently needed the air.

"You realize that right now we're older than they were when they went to work for Pop?" John said cryptically.

Eden's eyes narrowed. "What has that got to do with it?"

John didn't get the chance to answer, though, as two women ran to the driver side of the car. The closer one, the one in the green sport coat and mini-skirt, pulled out a badge and waved it in John's face. The other one, of mixed Eastern ancestry and sporting a cool headband, kept looking back and forth, furtively.

"Officer Anderson, Occult Crimes Unit. I don't have time to explain, but we're commandeering this vehicle-it is a situation of utmost emergency!"

John looked at the woman with a skunk eye. "You have got to be kidding me." he said with exasperation. He was trying not to note that the officer was actually quite attractive, or stare at the way her deep, labored breaths were making her chest heave. "Look, Officer, I really don't have time to deal with..."

"We're sorta short on time!" the other woman shouted. Before John could otherwise react, his vision was suddenly filled with a green miniskirted derriere and two nylon sheathed legs as the second woman pushed the first into the car on top of him.

The protest Eden was about to register was cut off when she saw a half dozen shambling, decaying corpses approaching from the same direction their new passengers had run from. "Johnathan! Zombies!"

The woman in the headband jumped into the back seat with Eden. "DRIVE, ASSHOLE!"

"I will as soon as I get your friend's butt out of my face!" John growled, grabbing the woman's calves and flipping her off of him and into the passenger seat (albeit sideways, on her back, legs splayed out the other side of the car).

"Buckle up." John deadpanned, and the car screeched out, full throttle.

* * *

><p>"Oh dear..." Dimsworth muttered to himself. "Our prey has wheels now. Fortunately..." he snapped a finger with just a twist of a grin on his limp face. "Master Zoraldo made sure we were ready for this possibility."<p>

* * *

><p>It hadn't taken long after they left the apartment for more zombies to show up in pursuit of Marie and Inspector Anderson, and some slightly faster ones, to boot. The two women had a good sprint before reaching an intersection; it was quiet this time of evening, save for one red Volkswagen Beetle convertible waiting at the stoplight.<p>

_I hope this bluff works_ Anderson remarked to herself. _Technically, I'm not even sure __American__ police have the authority to commandeer a private citizen's vehicle, and I'm not an American policewoman._

The man driving the car was tall, with a head of red hair that was a bit unkempt at the top, and formed into a squiggly rat tail at the back; it was an intriguingly eccentric look, she had to admit. And, the realization rolled ever so subtly into the back of her mind, his broad shoulders and chiseled jawline actually made him a rather attractive example of male _homo sapiens_.

It also penetrated her consciousness that there was a passenger in the back seat, a tall, blonde woman, but Anderson's attention was fixed on the driver. The driver who responded to her with a rich basso voice.

The look he gave her, though, like she was some annoying child, intense green eyes flashing with exasperation...it pissed her off. She was only doing her job! And being chased by the undead! _How am I going to explain this to this arsehole before..._

Unfortunately, before she could even finish the thought, Anderson found herself thrown into the man's lap by Marie, then was manhandled into the passenger seat-albeit upside down and legs splayed out awkwardly. _All of a sudden I wish I hadn't worn the mini-skirt._

She felt the car lurch into motion, and scrambled to right herself and get into the seat properly.

It was just as she buckled in that they heard the sound...

"Motorcycles!" Marie shouted, pointing behind them.

Sure enough, three hogs were barreling down the street, decayed corpses in biker leathers riding them.

"Now there's something you don't see every day." the driver remarked.

* * *

><p><strong>Hotel Sedgewick<strong>

* * *

><p>"Weird being here..." Kylie said as the four Extreme Ghostbusters got out of the ECTO-1. "It's where Egon and the others had their very first bust. When they caught Slimer. It's almost like..."<p>

"Like what?" Eduardo asked.

"Like there's this weird feeling in the back of my head. Like something's coming full circle or something."

Roland huffed as he donned his proton pack. "I get that feeling too...something about Eric coming back and wanting to join a Franchise. And when we found out John was working on some new prototype combo PKE Meter and ghost trap. You know...we're all older than Ray and Egon where when they hired us? And almost as old as Peter and Winston were at the time?"

"You sound like you're ready to retire or something." Eduardo snorted.

"All I can say, Eduardo, is that every morning when my back aches from wearing a proton pack, in the way it never did when I was nineteen, I begin to understand why the Professor and the others decided it was time for younger, stronger people to do the heavy work."

"Well, we'll plan your retirement party after we rescue Egon and Janine." Kylie smirked. "For now, lock and load."

They strode into the Hotel lobby. "Suck in the guts, Guys, we're the Ghostbusters." Garrett said loudly.

They all looked at him.

"You were all expecting me to say 'Somebody see a ghost?' weren't you? Admit it."

When the Ghostbusters entered the ballroom, there was a brief round of applause from some of the Etherites gathered there-the ones that weren't either inebriated or arguing with their compatriots. (Or both).

Kylie took some readings-and fended off the advances of a bald drunk in a visor-as she caught up to Eduardo, who was trying to extricate himself from a wild-haired man ranting about how steam would save the world.

"So you don't have any idea who booked this Zoraldo character?" Eduardo sputtered.

"We all assumed it was Doctor Volcano's idea." a nearby Etherite, who looked like Dr. Drakken from _Kim Possible_. "But anyway, to refute Professor Stiemhead..."

"I assure all of you." another voice broke in. "Noone here hired this magician."

Kylie recognized the Italian man. "You're Dr. Amore the Etheric Guildmaster."

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Dr. Griffin." Amore said pleasantly, as he shook her hand. As he did, she realized there was a weird feeling coming over her...something vague, but familiar. And not entirely pleasant.

"You're saying you didn't arrange this Zoraldo character?" Eduardo asked. "Then how'd he get in?"

"I believe the technical term is 'Gate Crashing', Mister Rivera." Amore looked around.

"And nobody we talked to seemed to have the slightest idea who this guy was." Garrett added.

"Curioser and curiouser." Amore stroked his chin. He looked at Kylie. "Aquarius."

The creepy feeling intensified. "What?"

"I'm going to guess Aquarius is prominent on your birth chart." Amore said warmly. "Astrology is something of an interest of mine."

"Uh...yeah..." Kylie muttered. "I was born on February 12th..."

"We ain't tellin' you which year." Eduardo interjected slightly defensively.

Amore chuckled. "I hope the younger Doctors Spengler will be all right. I was a little concerned when they left so abruptly."

"They'll be safer at GBCentral." Garrett pointed out. "There's someone there who can school any corny stage magician but good. And there's no way they're gonna catch them before they get there-you've never seen John Spengler drive." There was a note of approval in his voice at that last remark.

* * *

><p>The red Volkswagen barreled down the street, three biker zombies in hot pursuit.<p>

"You ladies have some very interesting admirers." John said cheerfully. "Though they have lousy teeth."

Anderson was fighting off disorientation...she just wasn't used to being in the right hand front seat of a car without a steering wheel. Or a brake-she was definitely missing a brake right now.

Marie poked Eden. "Keep a hand on me, Blondie." she prompted with a smirk. "But no funny business-it isn't the time."

Eden was confused about the entire statement-but then their new passenger pulled out an enormous pistol, and turned to face behind the speeding car.

"This is for my front door, you undead pricks!"

In a loud crack, one of the zombies was hit with a round. It kept on pursuing.

"I knew I should have brought the Arasaka..." Marie muttered.

"Aim for the wheels!" Eden prompted.

Marie fired again. "F-...missed!"

Anderson inhaled.

A semi truck had the temerity to be in their way, just because it had the green light and the Volkswagen didn't.

John executed a quick turn, avoiding the semi.

Fortunately for the four escaping humans still on this side of the spiritual divide, and unfortunately for one of the artful undead, it didn't.

"We could have been killed!" Anderson sputtered. "You drive like a daft maniac!"

"Write me a ticket later." John replied in a surprisingly blas?voice.

The other two zombies were a little more skillful (or lucky), and were back on the red VW's trail soon enough. One, in fact, revved his motor, and started to gain.

"It's getting closer!" Eden shouted.

Marie fired more shots. Some hit the zombie, or his bike, but didn't seem to do much damage. "It's not really fair for these guys to be bulletproof. I mean, sure, they're lacking working soft organs now, but geez..." She pulled the trigger once more and got nothing but a click. A few more clicks. She muttered a very vulgar word that Eden recognized as Japanese.

Unfortunately, the chase had taken them down a tunnel. John didn't have nearly as much room to maneuver as before.

"Johnathan!" Eden shouted.

"I know, I know!" he replied.

"Hold it steady, Red..." Marie prompted.

The zombie got within arm's length. It extended a claw, ready to try and grab at Marie.

Marie was quicker-she jammed her spent shotgun straight into the spokes of the motorcycle's front wheel.

The motorcycle rolled end over end several times, and slammed into the tunnel wall in a fireball.

"Scratch two." Marie said brightly.

* * *

><p><strong>Ghostbusters Central<strong>

* * *

><p>"I promise, Mrs. Tugfiogl, as soon as the Ghostbusters get back from their run to the Hotel Sedgewick, I'll have them check out your apartment building." Eric said as cheerfully as he could under the circumstances. "They better get back quick or they really will have to put me on payroll." he said after the end of the call.<p>

Slimer, floating nearby, repeated the phrase "Hotel Sedgewick" in his babbling approximation of English, and laughed, doing a few midair barrel rolls.

Eric was on the computer, scrolling through pages of information. _I didn't find anything about a "Zoraldo" in the "members only" section of ...I was probably confusing it with Zorad Summonestrus, the Tremere mentioned in some of Master Fallagar's journals._

The phone rang again. Eric answered it cheerfully, and listened to the caller for a minute.

"Wait a minute...say that again? There were zombies on motorcycles?"

* * *

><p>The red Volkswagen reached a clear stretch of road and poured on the speed; the remaining undead biker, however, kept up.<p>

"How are you doing this?" Anderson asked. "I've never seen a car like this move this fast!"

"I tinker." John smirked.

"It's going to catch us!" Eden shouted.

"Like Hell." John snarled.

Then the equation changed drastically-at an upcoming intersection, the warning lights and lowering guard rails heralded the impending arrival of a freight train.

"It's going to cut us off!" Anderson cried.

John spared a second's look at the approaching motorcycle. Then a second to look at the oncoming locomotive.

Inside his brain, a series of vectors and calculations processed at lightning speed. He was, after all, a Spengler.

He actually slowed a little bit, much to the consternation of his three passengers. The pursuer closed.

Then he sped up, barreling at the intersection at full speed; the pursuer kept coming.

"JOHNATHAN!" Eden screamed.

"Oh Shit!" Marie shouted.

Anderson grabbed his arm. Even in her eyes was a look little short of blind panic.

The red Volkswagen hybrid streaked through the intersection 1.67 seconds before the locomotive reached it.

At that exact moment, the pursuing undead biker was 1.67 seconds behind the red VW.

In an angry crash of shredded metal and the pulverization of undead sinew, the chase was ended.

The car screeched to a halt. For a full five seconds, there was nothing but labored exhalation.

Anderson grabbed John by the lapels. "WERE YOU TRYING TO GET US KILLED, YOU BLOODY IDIOT?"

"You're welcome." John exhaled.

Marie gave a thumbs up. "That was AWESOME! You ought to be a race car driver or something, Man."

Eden said nothing, but John knew that would change when they were alone. His sister was probably the most reserved person he'd ever met-she wasn't going to chew him out for his recklessness with a couple of complete strangers watching. But she was going to express her displeasure.

"I'm sure there's a great story behind why zombies are chasing you through the streets." John said, putting the vehicle back into gear. "But your social life is your own business, and I'm already working on an emergency. So unless you're going to arrest me or something, I'm outta here. You guys can get a ride from our destination or whatever."

"I probably would arrest you for reckless driving." Anderson admitted, crossing her arms and legs, looking away from him. "But I'm a bit outside my jurisdiction."

"Yeah, I thought you had a rather upper middle class English accent to be a New York cop."

Anderson blinked. "What?"

"Specifically, I'd surmise you were raised in the Chelsea area." Eden added blithely.

"How...how in the world..."

Marie chuckled.

"A friend of ours married a guy from Chelsea." John smirked. "And my sister inherited our Dad's ear for languages."

"Sister, huh?" Marie poked him. "Good. She won't be offended if I hit on you in front of her."

Anderson made a disgusted noise.

"Well, look, Johnny, we got a bit of a situation of our own. There any chance you're going to Tribeca, is there?"

John and Eden both looked at her. "Varrick and Moore close enough?" he asked.

Marie looked shocked. "That's exactly where we... How did..." She slapped herself on her forhead. "Johnny and sister...of course...you're John and Eden Spengler, Egon's kids!"

Anderson looked around at him, not sure what to make of this revelation.

"Marie Lupin. My Dad was Barney Lupin, the werewolf." She reached out to shake Eden's hand. "I'm told I was even there when your parents got married, but I was only about a year old."

"Your father is Aunt Elizabeth's friend." Eden nodded. "Eric Stantz has mentioned you from time to time."

"He just got back into town, I hear."

"He did." Eden nodded. "We saw him earlier today."

Anderson stared at John. It somehow made her suspicious that she and Marie had just happened to be rescued by the children of one of the men they were trying to reach..."Detective Inspector Tessa Jane Anderson. Scotland Yard Occult Crimes Unit." she said warily, extending a hand.

"Johnathan Christopher Spengler, PhD; Spengler Institute for Paranormal Research." John responded, returning the handshake. "Pretty firm handshake for a left hander, TJ."

"What did you call me?"

"TJ. Why?"

"My name is not 'TJ'. " she responded a bit brusquely. "How would you like it if I called you 'JC' or something like that?"

"Eric calls me that all that time." John retorted brightly.

"Would you just drive?" Anderson sputtered. "The sooner we get to the Ghostbusters the sooner we're done with each other!"

"You wish is my command." John smirked. "TJ"

In the back seat, Eden rolled her eyes. Marie held her hand over her mouth to stifle the belly laugh that so wanted to escape from her.

* * *

><p>Dimsworth felt a cold sweat on his brow. "Oh, Master Zoraldo isn't going to like this one bit..."<p>

_Going to like what?_ Zoraldo's voice snarled at the back of his temples.

Dimsworth jumped a good two feet.

"The Lupin woman and the policewoman who came from England..." Dimsworth groveled. "They escaped the minions...even the riders...even..." Dimsworth whimpered, expecting the next sensation he felt was his brain being pulled through his nose.

Zoraldo was silent for a few moments.

_This is unfortunate...but not fatal to the Great One's plan. Let the Lupin woman reach the Ghostbusters-I have secured our bargaining chip. But we will act quickly-they must not be allowed enough time to discover the true significance of the Eye of Aretpo. _

_Not before it is too late for that knowledge to do them any good._

* * *

><p>To Be Continued<p>

* * *

><p>Ectozone Editorial Staff: Dr. Vincent Belmont, EGB Fan, TheRazorsEdge<br>Additional Beta: Ghostdiva, Kingpin, OgreBBQ, Brian Reilly

* * *

><p>Thanks to Ogre for a couple of the jokes and references, especially the idea of Marie Lupin jamming the zombie biker's spokes.<p>

Eric Stantz, Marie Lupin, Yuzuru Fuyuno, Charlene Zeddemore, and the Inquisitors created by OgreBBQ. Johnathan and Eden Spengler, TJ Anderson, Jeremy Cranston, Dr. Amor? Zoraldo created by Fritz Baugh. Jessica Venkman and the Rivera Sisters created by EGB Fan. Captain Rebbecca Gates created by Ben King. Marie's friend Makayla created by Ghostdiva.

The Sons of Ether are inspired by the Tradition of the same name from White Wolf's _Mage: The Ascension_, created by Stewart Wieck and Mark ReinﾕHagen. The Solificati and Electrodyne Engineers also come from _Mage_. Developed for the GBOT continuity by Fritz Baugh, with the advice of Vincent Belmont.

ReinﾕHagen Academy is, of course, named for Mark ReinﾕHagen, co-creator of _Ars Magica_ and the original World of Darkness.

* * *

><p>#3751-11509r<br>GGB89-07  
>107<p> 


	4. Chapter 4

**Ghostbusters 2021: The Eye of Aretpo, Part Four**

From the Files of Dr. Fritz V. Baugh, GBI Historian  
>GBI Case File GBNY-2021-39001

* * *

><p><strong>Previously<strong>

* * *

><p>It has been thirty-eight years since the opening of Ghostbusters International's legendary first office.<p>

The mysterious death of former baseball player Yuzuru Fuyuno sends TJ Anderson of Scotland Yard's Occult Crimes Unit to New York. She finds Fuyuno's niece, Marie Lupin, who was the intended recipient of the one clue in the case: a creepy amulet. Not long after TJ arrives, the two women are attacked by zombies and run for their lives.

Marie and TJ hitch a ride from fraternal twins John and Eden Spengler, who are having a bad night of their own: their parents-GBI Co-Founder Egon Spengler and his wife Janine-have been kidnapped. After shaking off a gang of zombie bikers, the Spenglers and their new friends head to Ghostbusters Central.

What they have yet to realize is that Yuzuru Fuyuno's killer and the Spenglers' kidnapper are the same man: Zoraldo. And Zoraldo appears to be answering to an even more powerful evil...

* * *

><p><strong>New York City<strong>  
><strong>June 8, 2021<strong>

* * *

><p>Dimsworth groveled as he led Zoraldo and three zombies to the scene of defeat. A tangled mess of metal and zombie flesh was splattered near the railway tracks.<p>

"I hear sirens, Master..." Dimsworth whimpered.

Zoraldo picked up the zombie's head, frozen with an "OH SHIT!" expression on its face. Zoraldo muttered an invocation...

After a few seconds of concentration, Zoraldo's eyes shot open.

"Master?"

"It's a small world sometimes, Dimsworth." Zoraldo shook his head. "The driver of the car who came to Lupin and the Englishwoman's aid was driven by two of those in attendance at the Etherite dinner. Considering their resemblance to Spengler himself, I presume his children."

Zoraldo dropped the head, and gestured for them to leave. "It appears that despite our best efforts, the Ghostbusters are in a position to get ahold of the Eye. We must act quickly."  
>[ [ hr ] ]<br>The ECTO-1 tore down the street, lights and sirens blazing.

It wasn't the original ECTO-1, purchased by the Ghostbusters in 1983, or even the replacement they purchased five years later. It was a "replivehicle", a car very much mimicking the look of the classic 1959 Cadillac Miller Meteors, but equipped with the latest, state-of-the-art automotive technology. (And the odd customized improvement or two implemented by Ray Stantz and Roland Jackson)

"So how good do you think the readings you took are going to be?" Roland asked from the driver's seat.

"Good enough, I hope." Kylie shook her head. "It had faded, and there were so many other people there...some of those guys, because of the odd stuff they're into, they can set off the meters too. Amore's reading was high enough he could be a wizard himself."

"That guy does seem a little creepy." Garrett agreed.

"Don't forget that Juan and Edie were there." Eduardo pointed out. "Juan seems like he was just about born with that PKE meter in his hand, like his Dad. I'd be just about willing to bet money he took an assload of readings right after it happened."

"I hope so, Eddie." Kylie agreed. "But even if he did, I'm not totally sure what we can do about it. Egon's the only one who really understands all that stuff with dimensional warp technology, and not even Ray's here right now. I mean, is ECTO-4 even operational?"

"We don't even know if they've been transported to another plane." Roland pointed out. "They may still be on Earth, for all we know."

"That's just the problem, though. We. Don't. Know." Kylie retorted.

"Which means you should drive faster, Jacko." Garrett interjected. "Maybe Eric's managed to dig up something on this Zoraldo character..."

* * *

><p><strong>Varrick and Moore<strong>  
><strong>Ghostbusters Central<strong>

* * *

><p>The red 2015 VW skidded to a stop at one of the parking spots behind the firehouse, in the same spot an older, yellower VW occupied many times over the previous four decades; Dr. Jackson's blue Mustang was parked nearby.<p>

"Last stop." John remarked brightly.

"Bloody hell, about time..." TJ grumbled. "I half expected us to end up plowed into a lamppost somewhere. You are an absolute menace to automotive transportation! You're..."

"I apologize, Officer. I'll remember that next time: even if you're being chased by killer biker zombies, always obey the posted speed limit." John retorted.

TJ scowled at him for a few seconds, then began to undo her seatbelt.

Behind them, Eden was similarly unbuckling, rolling her eyes the whole time. Her brother, she noticed, seemed to be deriving an inordinate amount of glee from picking at the flustered English policewoman. _If he says something about racquetball I'm really going to get suspicious..._

They had just exited the car when the night was broken by an unearthly shriek, and _something_ jumped Marie Lupin from behind.

John reacted out of sheer instinct, tackling TJ down to the ground.

"Marie!" Eden shouted.

A snarling zombie, one of the ones that had chased them just an hour before, was latched onto Marie Lupin. Well, part of one of the zombies, to be more accurate-the lower half of it was gone. Its torn biker leathers ended just below its rib cage, and so did the rest of its body.

"Rego Corpus." a new voice broke in.

The half-zombie was torn off of Marie and thrown into the wall of the firehouse.

A man that TJ and Marie didn't recognize was standing there, with a determined look on his face, a long red and blue robe adorned with several holy symbols, and a set of aviator goggles perched on his head.

He gestured smoothly. "Perdo Corpus."

With barely a whimper, the zombie poofed into a cloud of ash, its now-empty leathers slumping to the ground.

For a few seconds, the four could just stare as the man in the robe exhaled.

"Eric..." Eden said. "What just happened?"

"I could ask you the same thing, Edie." Eric replied.

"I mean...what you did to that zombie...you..."

TJ realized John was still lying on top of her. "I think it's over with." she said forcefully. "You can get off me now."

There was a mischievous gleam in his eyes as they met hers, and a smirk at the edge of his mouth. "You sure?"

He hesitated a few scant seconds longer, just long enough for her to reach the cusp of offense, before helping her up. When they were both standing, she brusquely pulled herself away from him, and started brushing off her crumpled jacket, muttering.

Eden gave her brother a look. He just looked up and crossed his arms with mock innocence.

"Eric..." Eden asked again.

Eric exhaled. "I started to tell JC earlier, before you showed up and all that stuff about the Professor and the Etherite dinner interrupted. ReinﾕHagen wasn't just a private school. There's more to the nickname 'Hogwarts' than I ever would have guessed-it's a prep school for potential wizards. And I was selected."

Eric posed dramatically. "You are looking at a fully certified member of a twelve hundred and fifty four year old organization devoted to the study and practice of the magical arts. In the parlance of the Order, I am Eric Hawthorne, Filius of Vincent Belmont, Follower of Bonisagus, Magus of the Order of Hermes."

"Bonisagus? That's like a Hufflepuff, right?" John quipped.

"Don't make me Creo Ignem your ass, Spengler."

" 'Eric Hawthorne'?" Eden asked.

Eric sighed. "Why do you think I said it was so great you called me by my real name? I've had to go by Mom's maiden name for the last thirteen years, every since I got to ReinﾕHagen...'Stantz' would carry too big a stigma in the Order...about the only name that'd draw more hate than that would be yours..."

"Eric Stantz...been a long time..." Marie said, going over to Eric and slapping him on the butt. "You've grown up nicely."

Eric chuckled. "You ain't exactly an eyesore yourself, Marie. So what are you doing here?"

"Am I the only one here who doesn't know everyone else?" TJ muttered.

"Pretty much." Eden replied blithely.

"I think before we answer any more questions..." John broke in, studying his GBX. "...We should get inside."

* * *

><p>Roland slammed the brakes, bringing the ECTO-1 to a stop.<p>

A fancy car sat in their way.

"Fine time for a breakdown." Garrett snarled. "Honk at his ass, Jacko! We got important stuff to take care of!"

Roland shook his head. "We don't lose anything by taking time to help a fellow motorist in need. He's probably already called for help, but you never know. Even in this day and age there are a few people who don't have cell phones."

"Yeah, and they probably don't drive anything more high tech than a horse and buggy, either." Garrett grumbled.

Roland got out of the car. "Good evening. I see you're having some problems with your vehicle. I'm a mechanical engineer myself, and I'd take a look if I weren't in a hurry, but can I call anyone for you or anything?"

The car door opened and a man in a tuxedo got out.

"Waitaminute..." Kylie gasped. "The description of Zoraldo...that guy looks..."

The man leered, and held up a glowing crystal. "That won't be necessary, Doctor Jackson."

Dimsworth and three more zombies appeared, each holding a glowing crystal. They surrounded the ECTO-1.

Garrett reached for a proton pack.

Beams of red light shot between each of the crystals, forming a pentagram.

"Arbadacarba! Otserp ognahc!" Zoraldo shouted.

The light flared to the brightness of the sun, and when it faded, the ECTO-1 and all four Ghostbusters were gone.

"Now then..." Zoraldo said, pocketing the crystal. "We have business to discuss with Miss Lupin and the younger Spenglers..." The night filled with his maniacal laugh.

* * *

><p>The first thing TJ Anderson saw when she stepped into the shabby former firehouse was a green, potato-shaped semitranslucent entity with bulging eyes and a large mouth. It babbled excitedly at Eric, then went over to her, looking warily.<p>

"What...what..."

"In the Ghostbusting business, we call that a Focused, Non-Terminal Repeating Phantasm, and a Class Five Full Roaming Vapor." John quipped. "Though he prefers to be called 'Slimer'."

"You've never seen an ectoplasmic entity before?" Eden asked. "I believe you said you were with the 'Occult Crimes Unit'..."

"I just started with them this year." TJ answered, looking a bit uncomfortable at the admission. "This was my first case with them."

"I didn't think you looked like a grizzled old vet yet, no." Marie said. "Even though you sound like a fifty year old in a twenty-year old body."

"Twenty three." TJ corrected brusquely.

"And I'll be twenty two in five days!" John said in a mocking sing-song voice. "I'm a Gemini with Aries rising and my favorite color is red!"

"Don't start." Eden told him.

"I wasn't." John replied more somberly. "Howsabout we, oh, I dunno, find out why Marie and TJ were being chased by zombies. It gives us something to do until the Ghostbusters get back."

"They were jealous of our teeth." Marie quipped.

"TJ?" Eric said agreeably. "Pleased to make your acquaintance. Eric Stantz."

"Tessa Jane Anderson." TJ replied. "My name is not'TJ'..."

"Anyway, I think John's got a good idea, TJ." Eric nodded. "All I know is that something about you two is making the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Just what kind of bad magic mojo have you been fooling around with, Marie?"

"Nothing by choice, Eric." Marie shook her head.

She explained how Anderson had turned up on her doorstep; TJ, in turn, told them about the murder of Marie's uncle, Yuzuru Fuyuno, and her quest for answers-which led her to Marie Lupin, the zombie attack, and the subsequent meeting with the Spenglers.

"And it all appears to be about this." Marie said, taking the bundle out of her vest pocket and opening it. A gold medallion, about the diameter of a tennis ball, was emblazoned with a dark, ominous green eye.

Slimer screamed and hid behind the file cabinets.

John pulled out his GBX, and scanned it directly.

_Error: PK Level Exceeds Sensor Tolerance Parameter._

"And the breaker's about five times better than the old Model 3..." John muttered.

"Wow!" Eric said.

"You have any idea what it is?" Marie asked.

"No...but it's cool! It's putting out vibes bad enough to depress Barney the Dinosaur, but it's cool!"

"Despite my own fear of the answer..." TJ said. "You said you had an emergency of your own, which I presume explains why the Ghostbuster aren't here?"

John and Eden nodded gravely, and told their own story-of how the gatecrashing stage magician 'Zoraldo' had absconded with their parents.

"Wow." Marie looked downcast. "All the stories I've heard about the Professor make him sound, like, invincible or something."

TJ's brow furrowed. "This seems a rather...interesting coincidence. If it is a coincidence."

"You think it could be related?" Marie asked.

"Think about it. An artifact-which appears to contain so much paranormal power someone's willing to kill for it-arrives in New York City. That very same night, one of the founders of the world's premiere paranormology investigative companies is kidnapped." TJ sat down at the reception desk, and started typing on the computer. " 'Zoraldo' you said..."

"I looked him up in the Hermetic archives." Eric said. "And on Google-I got nothing."

TJ arched an eyebrow. "You, however, do not have access to the Interpol database."

The Interpol page came up, and TJ logged in.

"I could probably crack it myself with very little difficulty." Eden said matter of factly.

"Edie, bragging about it while a cop is sitting two feet away from you is probably not the best idea." John chided.

"I didn't say I was going to." Eden countered indignantly. "Just that I could."

"Hm..." TJ muttered.

"You got something?" Marie asked.

"Perhaps." TJ answered. "I got two hits on the name 'Zoraldo'...but they're from the 1920's."

John and Eden looked at each other.

"In 1927, the police department in Amherst, Massachusetts investigated the mysterious death of a teenage girl. The investigation led them to a cult dedicated to 'Amot-Naphemus, Dark God of Atlantis'... One of the cult members was a local stage magician calling himself 'Zoraldo'..."

TJ clicked a link. "Here's the mug shot on file..."

John and Eden's blood froze when they saw the grainy picture of a seedy looking man with slicked back black hair and a pencil mustache. "It sure looks like the same guy..." John said.

TJ paused before continuing. "Arrest record says his real name was Thomas Riley, and he was born in Hackensack, New Jersey in 1889."

"One hundred and thirty two years?" Eric whistled. "Even Vigo the Carpathian only made it to a hundred and five..."

"The charges were dropped when the Amherst police couldn't find enough evidence to make them stick."

"That time." Marie interjected. "You said there was a second hit?"

TJ nodded. "1929. Same Thomas Riley. Amherst police found his wagon burned to the ground, with scarcely a cinder larger than a quarter left of it. There were no human remains discernable to the forensic techniques of the time, but the police declared Riley deceased and closed the case." She looked up. "Apparently, the cult of Amot-Naphemus drifted apart after the arrest two years before-none of them were implicated in any foul play."

Eric stroked his chin. "Anything else?"

TJ shook her head. "Nothing."

"Great. Let me in here-I got something else to check on now..."

"Could it really be the same Zoraldo?" Eden mused.

"Possible, I suppose." John replied. "I remember Mom mentioning some wizards they met who were like three and eight hundred years old...I..." John trailed off.

He'd been distracted when TJ leaned over to inspect her own right shin. "Bloody things got a snag..." she was muttering. "Probably happened when some boor threw me to the ground."

"Next time I'll let the zombie strangle you. I promise." John spoke up.

TJ looked a little sheepish, not realizing she'd drawn his attention.

Marie rolled her eyes. "Could you two flirt later? We still don't know why the zombies are after this f-ing thing..."

"'Flirt'?" John and TJ said in indignant unison.

Eden rolled her eyes. "I really wish the Ghostbusters would get back."

Slimer peeked out from behind the cabinet, whimpering. He started to look nervously at the direction of the front door.

Everyone else was too preoccupied to hear a vehicle pulling up to it.

"Crap." Eric grumbled. "Nothing on the online archive for an 'Amot-Naphemus' or even anything close to that. There's a lot of Hermetic archives that have never been scanned, but even if there was something at Horizon or Harco I'd have to go in person, and no telling how long it would take to actually find anything..."

"This is why print is dead, Eric." Eden quipped.

To a one, they all startled at the loud, angry rap at the front door.

"I'm the biggest." John growled. "I'll tell them to get lost..."

"Be diplomatic this time!" Eden called after him. "Just point out that office hours are nine to five, and they could come back tomorrow."

But when John Spengler opened the door, Slimer screamed and ducked back behind the file cabinet again.

"Zoraldo!" John shouted.

"I am not truly here." Zoraldo said with a Cheshire grin. "I am projecting my image over one of my zombies; destroy it if you wish-it wouldn't be the first one tonight, would it?-but it causes me no harm."

"You son of a bitch!" John snarled "Where are my parents?"

"Safe, for the moment." Zoraldo answered. "Might I enter? That is one of the subjects I am here to discuss..."

John looked back at the others. Eric nodded. Marie and TJ were both ready to draw and fire the guns they carried at a second's notice.

John opened the door; the black clad magician strode into the garage.

"He's telling the truth about being an illusion..." Eric whispered to Eden. "It's an imagonem spell or a glamour over another zombie..."

"Tsukiko Lupin." Zoraldo bowed theatrically. "A pleasure to meet you at last. You have something that belongs to me."

"Oh do I?" Marie said, fingers itching on the pistol concealed in her sweat pants.

"The Eye of Aretpo." Zoraldo answered. "Your uncle, Yuzuru Fuyuno. He stole it from me, and I have very strong reason to believe it has ended up in your possession. I sense its presence here-do not try to convince me otherwise."

"Was it really worth killing him over?" Marie asked angrily.

"In truth..." Zoraldo replied. "Fuyuno killed himself. I had cornered him in London; he jumped into the Thames of his own accord."

Marie looked at TJ. "That's what our forensics said. He was still alive when he hit the water."

"That doesn't excuse you sending zombies after us" Marie countered.

"I had hoped to regain my lost property without any further...entanglements."

"Is it really your property?" Eric asked. "Or does it belong to Amot-Naphemus?"

Zoraldo's eyes opened wider at the mention. "I don't know of what you speak." he answered after a second.

"Thomas Riley? Cult of Amot-Naphemus in Amherst, Massachusetts? None of that rings a bell?"

"Egon and Janine Spengler." Zoraldo countered. "Roland Jackson. Eduardo Rivera. Kylie Griffin. Garrett Miller. Do those names have meaning to you?"

Zoraldo stroked his mustache. "I know they do. All of them are in my...safekeeping. I propose a simple exchange: return to me the Eye of Aretpo, and I will return to you your parents and the other Ghostbusters."

"You piece of slime..." Marie growled.

"John...what should we do?" Eden asked.

John gulped. "Marie..."

"You guys are the experts in this stuff, Johnny." Marie shook her head. "I'll do whatever you decide."

It was a bit of an uncomfortable moment for Johnathan Christopher Spengler to realize that, somehow, the decision seemed to have ended up on his shoulders.

His parents were in jeopardy, that much he knew. And the other Ghostbusters-four people he'd known and looked up to his entire life-had been long overdue in returning. His instincts told him Zoraldo was telling the truth-they were also in the same predicament as his parents.

On the other hand...this "Eye of Aretpo" was powerful and probably quite dangerous. His instincts also told him that letting Zoraldo have it would definitely not be a good thing.

But what else could they do? They weren't the Ghostbusters.

Get his parents and the Ghostbusters back. And they could take care of whatever Zoraldo and "Amot-Naphemus" were cooking up.

That faith made the decision easier.

"Do it." he finally said, voice purged of emotion.

Marie hesitated for a second, then pulled the package containing the Eye out of her vest. "Bring them back to us first."

"Done." Zoraldo leered, snapping his fingers.

The garage of the firehouse was filled with an angry red light. Out of it, the ECTO-1 appeared.

Zoraldo snapped his fingers again. The package was torn from Marie's grip, and flew to the sleazy magician.

"Thank you for your cooperation!" Zoraldo said, sprinting out the door.

The fivesome were more preoccupied with the replivehicle and its contents. "Mom! Pop!" John called.

They threw open the door to the ECTO-1. Roland Jackson sat in the front seat, eyes open, but blank.

"I see Kylie, Garrett, and Eduardo, but not..." Eric started to say.

"They're in the back!" Eden called.

Egon and Janine Spengler lay in the back of the replivehicle. One of Egon's hands gripped a blinking Model 3 PKE Meter. The other gripped his wife's right hand. Their eyes were just as open, blank, and unseeing as their proteges'.

* * *

><p>The fancy car sped away from the firehouse. One Zoraldo handed the Eye of Aretpo to the other, and the first one's illusionary mask faded away, revealing its true zombie face.<p>

Zoraldo fingered the amulet, eyes glinting with glee. "At last...it's mine...after a century, it's all within our grasp." His laugh was deep and satisfied. "Drive faster, Dimsworth! We must complete the ritual. By the time Ghostbusters International discovers what's happened and sends in reinforcements..."

His grin was wide. He was shaking with anticipation.

"It will already be too late for them! It will be too late for them all!"

* * *

><p>To Be Continued<p>

* * *

><p>Ectozone Editorial Staff: Dr. Vincent Belmont, EGB Fan, TheRazorsEdge<br>Additional Beta: Ghostdiva, Kingpin, OgreBBQ, Brian Reilly

* * *

><p>Eric Stantz, Marie Lupin, Yuzuru Fuyuno, Charlene Zeddemore, and the Inquisitors created by OgreBBQ. Johnathan and Eden Spengler, TJ Anderson, Jeremy Cranston, Dr. Amore Zoraldo, Amot-Naphemus created by Fritz Baugh. Jessica Venkman and the Rivera Sisters created by EGB Fan. Captain Rebbecca Gates created by Ben King. Marie's friend Makayla created by Ghostdiva.<p>

The Order of Hermes created by Jonathan Tweet and Mark ReinﾕHagen for _Ars Magica_, currently published by Atlas Games. They also appeared in White Wolf's _Mage: The Ascension_ and _Vampire: The Masquerade_. Developed for the GBOT continuity by Vincent Belmont and Fritz Baugh. ReinﾕHagen Academy is, of course, named for Mr. ReinﾕHagen, co-creator of _Ars Magica_ and the original World of Darkness.

The Sons of Ether are inspired by the Tradition of the same name from White Wolf's _Mage: The Ascension_, created by Stewart Wieck and Mark ReinﾕHagen. The Solificati and Electrodyne Engineers also come from _Mage_. Developed for the GBOT continuity by Fritz Baugh, with the advice of Vincent Belmont.

* * *

><p>#3791-50209y<br>GGB89-07  
>109<p> 


	5. Chapter 5

**Ghostbusters 2021: The Eye of Aretpo, Part Five**

From the Files of Dr. Fritz V. Baugh, GBI Historian  
>GBI Case File GBNY-2021-39001

* * *

><p><strong>Previously<strong>

* * *

><p>It has been thirty-eight years since the opening of Ghostbusters International's legendary first office.<p>

The mysterious death of former baseball player Yuzuru Fuyuno sends TJ Anderson of Scotland Yard's Occult Crimes Unit to New York. She finds Fuyuno's niece, Marie Lupin, who was the intended recipient of the one clue in the case: a creepy amulet. Not long after TJ arrives, the two women are attacked by zombies and run for their lives.

Marie and TJ hitch a ride from fraternal twins John and Eden Spengler, who are having a bad night of their own: their parents-GBI Co-Founder Egon Spengler and his wife Janine-have been kidnapped. After shaking off a gang of zombie bikers, the Spenglers and their new friends head to Ghostbusters Central.

There, they are contacted by Zoraldo, who not only was party to Yuzuru Fuyuno's death, but was the kidnapper of Egon and Janine. He proposes a simple trade: the Eye of Aretpo, the amulet Marie has been given, for the Spenglers and the Extreme Ghostbusters. Facing no choice, the youngsters accept; Zoraldo flees with the Eye, and fulfills his part of the bargain.

But the Ghostbusters and the elder Spenglers have been left in no condition to act against what happens next.

* * *

><p><strong>Aside<strong>

* * *

><p>He toggled to the line in the cell phone screen that read "AQU" and hit Send. It was a somewhat outdated phone-probably state of the art twelve or thirteen years before-but he'd always had a fondness for archaic devices.<p>

"Oh come on, your Archmageness...pick up..." he muttered. After three rings, there was an answer at the other end. "_Salve_, [Lord Aquarius]" the caller said in Latin.

"[No...it's not about the Eye...I think that situation is...unfolding. But I thank you for your sympathies. No...the reason I called is that I had a couple of most notable meetings tonight at the Etherite dinner.]"

"[Well, one of them was the Avatar of Aquarius. The residual of the energy was noticeable, even after three decades. But even more interesting, I had the pleasure of meeting the twin children of Egon Spengler.]"

The caller nodded. "[After finally meeting them...well, I would say I definitely think you could be right. Your interpretation of the prophesy is more than plausible.]"

The caller grinned. "[I think we're about to see, aren't we?]"

Dr. Enrico Amore said his goodbyes, ended the call, and stared out the window of his hotel room. "I think the darkness is going to get a bit deeper tonight." he said out loud. "We shall indeed see what the young Doctors Spengler are capable of..."

* * *

><p><strong>New York City<strong>  
><strong>June 8, 2021<strong>

* * *

><p><em>I needed you... <em>

_Thomas Riley was nothing. The brat of circus acrobats, born when a man named Harrison ruled over the lands...but though they wanted him to be like them, he could not. _

_The magician was his inspiration. He wanted to be just like him, to amaze them all with his feats of prestidigitation... _

_He separated from his parents...left them when he was eighteen and never saw them again...he wanted to show them wrong... _

_War. The charnel house of Europe. No card tricks would save Thomas Riley from the bombs and the mustard gas. _

_He called out for salvation... _

_And received it... _

_The vision came to me. The splendor of the Dark God. With his power, I would survive. I would attain all of the glory I had dreamed of. _

_I would do it in your name. _

_I recruited followers...young, impressionable. Disillusioned by the Great War; enthralled by the promise of the Roaring Twenties; both; it mattered little. They may not even have truly believed, but they still sang your name. _

_**Amot-Naphemus.** _

_And my own _

_Zoraldo _

_But I was careless...the naive girl who was our sacrifice was noticed...The authorities could not charge me, there was no real evidence. The hold I had on our cult was strong. But they were scared by it...they drifted away... _

_Save one, the one called Dimsworth. _

_The Great One called to me... _

_**You have proven a fine servant, Zoraldo. Now...accept my full blessing. You will become the greatest magician your world will ever see. Accept.** _

_The world vanished into a haze of fire, and when I awoke, I was in a dark, cold place. You were there, the Dark God. _

_And I learned. Decades blurred together in that hellish domain, but your promise was fulfilled: I learned how to channel the force of magic, make it do my bidding. _

_I needed only to fulfill one obligation: bring to you the Eye of Aretpo. _

_Dimsworth passed from the world, as all mortals do, but his son had been trained to obey your words. And his son after him. And another Dimsworth, four generations removed, heard news of it at last. _

_I returned to the world, the world I knew buried in nine decades of time. A world of stink and pollution. Cars and flying machines that even the most fevered fantasy writers of my day would find impossible. A world where the lower races intermingled with our own, and even attained our highest offices of power. But the digital watch-now that's an awesome invention. _

_And then we were almost too late. The Japanese man, Yuzuru Fuyuno, got the Eye first. We trailed him to London, and he hurled himself to his death rather than give us what was due us. _

_But he failed. I tracked it to America, and his mongrel-blooded niece. _

_I clutch it in my hand, Great One. _

_**The invocation, Zoraldo. The invocation I have burned into your soul. Speak it! Speak it so we may both be free!** _

Acba yin Lo-kum yin Kym-nark-mar Acba yin Netosa yin Erva

* * *

><p><strong>Ghostbusters Central<strong>

* * *

><p>Eden studied the display on her PKE Meter. Unlike the prototype "GBX" her brother was carrying around, it was the proven, reliable Model 3.2. She had customized the casing, however, replacing the standard blue shell with a reddish-purple one.<p>

"Their PK traces are present...but there's a stronger pattern in place, suppressing them." she told Eric.

Eric nodded. "That's what my Intellego Vim rotes are showing me. Other than that...whatever has been done to them is way out of my league. Maybe Master Vincent or my Mom would have better luck, but I'd probably be doing more harm than good trying to unweave something this powerful that I just don't know much about."

"Steady pulses..." TJ added, looking up from Eden's unconscious father. "No obvious signs of any struggle or injury." She shook her head. "There's certainly no obvious physical reason they shouldn't be up and moving."

They turned to the firepole leading downstairs as they heard a rhythmic thudding noise from the garage. Eden exhaled and rolled her eyes; she strode toward the stairs, the magus and the detective close behind.

Eden unwittingly noticed the sound of the TV in the reception area, which had been left on when the Extreme Ghostbusters had departed the building a couple hours before.

_"...Latest from the Hague on the war crimes trials of the surviving members of the Bush Administration. But first, tonight's top story: new pictures of Kimmy Delaney's baby! Our photographers caught the supermodel and two year-old cutie Courtney as they left a New York restaurant..."_

The source of the rhythmic thud was Eden's brother repeatedly pounding his head against one of the garage bulkheads.

"Johnny?" Marie asked, looking a bit confused by it all, but a bit relieved that backup was on the way. Slimer was also floating nearby, looking panicked.

"How. Could I. Be. So. **Stupid?**" John snarled in staccato bursts between impacts.

"Would you stop that?" Eden said, grabbing him before he could slam into the wall again. Slimer babbled and rubbed John's head.

"It's my fault, Dammit." John growled. "I should have expected a double-cross. Now that asshole has the Eye, and who knows what he's going to do with it?"

"Maybe it's just something he uses in kinky zombie sex parties?" Marie offered helpfully. Eden, TJ, and Eric gave her a skunk eye.

"There was no good answer, Johnathan." Eden tried to reassure him. "You made the logical decision based on all of the information we had at hand. There were just facts we were...deficient on."

"For what it's worth, JC." Eric told him. "They're all fine. Physically. Edie and I detect their life forces, and they're there, but whatever spell Zoraldo put them under has them unconscious and likely to stay that way for a while."

John looked at them, and exhaled. "He wanted Mom and Pop out of his way. He got Roland's gang out of the way, too. I think whatever he's about to do, he probably doesn't want any Ghostbusters around mucking it up-and he's got his wish."

Eric looked at him. "There aren't any..."

John shook his head. "You know where your parents are better than any of us. Uncle Pete's out in California, and so's Winston. There's nobody it won't take time to contact and get here."

"Then Zoraldo's probably moving quickly." TJ surmised, just as the alarms started to go off upstairs.

John and Eden looked at each other. "The longrange Ectospheric sensors!" John shouted.

* * *

><p><em><strong>I needed you... <strong>_

_**It wasn't always such. Eons ago, I dominated an entire continent. The shining jewel at the centerpiece of one of Iaoue's most treasured worlds. **_

_**Then the infestation...beings with the spark of sentience, the betrayal of the gods by Xodiac...the infestation reached my lands. **_

_**Ancalimar was his name, wielding the power of quintessence, blessed by his worship of Iaoue Himself. His people marched under the banner of the goat serpent. **_

_**They sought my land for their own, and made war on the creatures I commanded. **_

_**Ancalimar attacked me once. He failed to destroy me, but he survived, and tore loose my heart. **_

_**He blasphemed my heart with his magic; reshaping it, casting from it the great Eye of Aretpo. **_

_**The bearers of the goat banner-the Tesmihiru, they called themselves-renewed their attack on my fortresses. Even when I animated their own fallen with my power, they were relentless. **_

_**Ancalimar had used my heart, the Eye of Aretpo, to craft a banishment ritual. **_

_**The fire of pain, as my body was torn from this realm, confined to a dark, cold land, unable to touch the land of Iaoue. For millennia, I raged helplessly. **_

_**Ancalimar Tesmihirus founded a kingdom of apemen on my sacred land, his own descendants ruling it. "Atlantis" they called it, in their chattering tongue. **_

_**Then the followers of the Formless Destructor destroyed it; Atlantis sank beneath the waves, and the Eye of Aretpo with it. The blood of my foe was no more, but I could not return without the Eye. The power of the quintessence waned, and Iaoue's chosen land became further and further removed from my grasp. **_

_**I fell dormant. Then a flood of death force, arising from a grand orgy of massacre, opened just the faintest crack in the barriers. A lowly human offered his service in return for my aid; I found the key to my return. **_

_**I found you. Zoraldo. **_

_**The servants I cultivated remained in place, as I brought you to my lands. To learn the dark magics. More importantly, to learn the incantation that would release the power of the Eye. Release the power that would allow me to step on the world of the living after a half dozen Great Ages. **_

_**And finally...the servants of human science discovered the Eye. Others tried to deny my servants, but they failed. **_

_**I will not be denied now!**_

* * *

><p>"So what's all this belling and whistling about, then?" Marie asked, as John and Eden quickly looked at various parts of the red light covered console and scowled.<p>

"The PKE level in New York City is going through the roof." John answered.

"PKE is Psycho Kinetic Energy." TJ explained. "It's the energy that powers paranormal manifestations. Also known as quintessence, manna, chi, or vis."

John, Eden, and Eric all looked at her with amazement.

"Occult Crimes Unit, remember?" she said, crossing her arms. "They do give us some basic idea of what we might be dealing with."

"Yeah, I get it." Marie rolled her eyes. "Now how bad we talking about here?"

John gave a mischievous grin as he picked up a Twinkie from the counter. Eden snatched it from him. "It's my turn."

"Go for it." John chuckled.

"Let's say this Twinkie represents the average amount of Psycho Kinetic Energy in the New York Area. The current reading on the equipment is 583 Twinkies. Or 48 boxes worth, with seven left over."

"That's a lot of Twinkies." Marie deadpanned.

"And the reading is still climbing." John added. "And that probably means a lot worse for the city than just a diabetic coma."

The downstairs phone started ringing.

"I'll get this one." TJ said, sprinting to the stairway. "But I'm not your bloody secretary!"

"Client Administrator." John shot back.

"I bet we're gonna be getting a lot of calls." Eric noted.

"Edie, call Jeremy." John said, then explained to Eric and Marie. "He's our phone jockey at the university-he's a pro at keeping ten people on hold at the same time."

"Why do I have to call him?" Eden whined.

John's mischievous grin returned. "Because if you call him, he'll get here quicker than the traffic laws allow."

Eden rolled her eyes and started to dial her cell phone.

* * *

><p><em>"Acba yin Lo-kum yin Kym-nark-mar Acba yin Netosa yin Erva"<em>

The winds whipped around Zoraldo, as he continued the chant. Dimsworth and a dozen zombie servants stood around him in a circle.

The Eye of Aretpo crackled with dark lightning.

_"Acba yin Lo-kum yin Kym-nark-mar Acba yin Netosa yin Erva"_

_**Over the decades...I have collected many. Bodies lost to violence and war. Souls lost to the depths of the sea. The missing and the forgotten. **_

_**They belong to me. Now...as the dark symphony nears its crescendo, they will rise!**_

Before Zoraldo, the Hudson River began to froth and boil. Pure solid darkness burst from the waters, a gnarled, deformed edifice clutched for the night skies. It rose about Zoraldo's head. It rose five stories, then ten, then fifteen, only the faintest hints of glittering water around it.

_"Acba yin Lo-kum yin Kym-nark-mar Acba yin Netosa yin Erva"_

With an angry clatter, a slab of the dark edifice fell away, slamming to the ground before the assembled servants, forming a bridge between the gnarled palace and the pier.

Out of the dark hole, more zombies shambled forth. Ten. Twenty. A hundred. Two hundred. A thousand.

_**The time has come, my servants!**_ the voice of Amot-Naphemus shrieked. _**Make this world ready for my ascension! For the coronation of Amot-Naphemus!**_

* * *

><p>"Ghostbusters...please hold. Ghostbusters...please hold. Ghostbusters..."<p>

As John had predicted, Jeremy Cranston had practically teleported to the firehouse when Eden called him, despite the fact that it was late in the evening. John suspected that their office assistant had nursed a bit of a crush on his sister for some time, and accidentally let that fact slip in front of their mother a couple of weeks before.

_"Oh Adonai..." Janine said, rolling her eyes. "I know where she gets that from-you wouldn't believe some of the nutcase women that were obsessed with your father back in the day."_

And then Eric showed up and about tripped over his tongue when he saw her. _This could be fun to watch...as long as I don't end up in the middle of it._

"Well, that's taken care of." TJ exhaled, tossing her sport coat onto the file cabinet. "So what's our next move?"

"Do we even have a next move?" Marie asked.

"We need to contact another GBI Franchise." Eden stated. "It makes we wish Dr. Baugh hadn't been forced to cancel at the dinner tonight."

"Yeah, but if they nabbed Mom and Pop, they might have targeted him too." John pointed out.

"We don't even know how big this is." Eric mused. "Zoraldo could just be small potatoes...what if they're more of them, and they're targeting GBI agents all over the country? Uncle Peter and Uncle Winston could be..."

The television broke into their train of thought. _"This is a Channel Six News Special report."_

The five youngsters looked at each other.

_"This is Cody Jones at the Channel Six studios, where at this hour there is panic in Southern Manhattan. Some grainy video has been sent to our studio...as you can see, it shows a large, irregular, black building of some sort that has appeared in the Hudson River. We've been flooded with calls about, to quote one witness, 'Zombies in Eighties clothes' running amuck and attacking pedestrians..."_

"This just got worse." Marie deadpanned.

_"And more than one frantic caller has asked the same question: __Where are the Ghostbusters?__"_

"Shit." Eden said simply, rubbing her forehead.

"John!" Jeremy yelled. "I think...I think one of you better take this call."

John, Eden, and Eric looked at each other quizzically.

"It's the Mayor." Jeremy explained.

After a second of hesitation, John grabbed the phone, throwing his own sportcoat on top of TJ's. "Hey, Alec, long time no talk, Cuz? So what's up?"

* * *

><p><strong>Gracie Mansion<strong>

* * *

><p>Alec Jacobs had been elected Mayor of New York City in 2017, after a successful term in the New York State Senate. He benefited, and he freely admitted it, from family connections: he was the direct descendant-and in the view of many spitting image-of Nineteenth Century Congressman Aaron Jacobs, the first disabled Congressman from New York; and the fact that he just happened to be related to one of the Ghostbuster families-his mother was a cousin of John and Eden's mother-didn't hurt his popularity in some quarters. It certainly made him more popular with GBI than the likes of Lenny Clotch and Edwin MacShayne.<p>

Right now, of course, Jacobs was dealing with chaos. People were darting in and out of the office, shouting at each other, and trying to get Hizzoner's attention.

"Johnathan?" Jacobs said incredulously. "What's going on down there? Why are you on the phone?"

_"It's been one of those nights."_

"John, pardon the invocation of one of the late Lenny Clotch's bits of hyperbole, but the Tenth Level of Hell is popping up on the south side. There are zombies all over the piers. And I hate to sound like a typical politician, but it is an election year. Where are the Ghostbusters?"

There was a long pause.

"John?"

* * *

><p>"JC?" Eric asked.<p>

"The Ghostbusters are on their way, Alec. You just gotta trust us on this."

There were several confused looked around the room.

"I gotta go, Cuz-I'll let you know as soon as I have anything worth reporting." John hung up the phone, his hand over his chin in contemplation.

" 'The Ghostbusters are on their way'?" Eden berated him. "How could you lie to the Mayor of New York and your own second cousin like that?"

John looked his sister in the eye, a mischievous grin on his face, and cocked one eyebrow exactly as their father often did. "Who said I was lying?"

Eric's face lit up.

"You are not thinking what I think you're thinking." Eden stated.

"Adversity has a way of clarifying the mind, Eden." John said. "Some Ghostbusters choose the job-our Dads did. Belmont did. But sometimes, the job chooses the Ghostbusters: the Achira crisis chose Roland's team. The Bermuda Triangle chose Cousin Jen's crew. The Ravisher chose those guys in LA. That demon that tried to eat Tony Blair chose the GBUK. Zoraldo and Amot-Naphemus just chose us."

Eric strode over to a locker, opening it to reveal a rack of beige jumpsuits, each sporting the familiar patch, a cartoony ghost with a red prohibition sign over it. "If you're in, find one in your size. There should be one-these are the Rookie suits, and they keep a variety around just in case."

"I'm in!" Marie grinned, exchanging a high-five with Eric. "This has got to be more fun than rolling drunks! Which is actually pretty fun, mind you."

"You are going to get yourself killed." Eden shook her head, then sighed deeply as she rummaged through the locker. "But since we came into the world together, we might as well die needlessly together."

John looked at the last holdout. "TJ?"

TJ humphed and reached for a flight suit. "I came to this country to solve a case. It would be unprofessional to not see it through to the end."

John grinned widely.

Despite herself, TJ grinned back.

* * *

><p><em>"Acba yin Lo-kum yin Kym-nark-mar Acba yin Netosa yin Erva"<em>

Zoraldo and the small band of zombies were inside the dark temple now, in a grand chamber where a cold light shone despite having no obvious source.

_**Helios's nadir is the moment that my power will reach it's peak...**_ the disembodied voice of Amot-Naphemus called. _**There must be more chaos, more death, before that time. One sign of Xodiac's band will transit before that time.**_

"But..." Zoraldo stopped, confused. "Midnight is only an hour away!"

_**My calculations are perfect!**_

Zoraldo slapped his forehead. "F-ing daylight savings time! One more idiot thing the modern world came up with! The clock says eleven, the sky says it's still ten!"

_**But now, the power grows enough that I may move into this world at last. The incantation, Zoraldo-continue!"**_

_"Acba yin Lo-kum yin Kym-nark-mar Acba yin Netosa yin Erva"_

_**Broderick Dimsworth**_

"At your command, Great One." the limp-haired little man answered.

_**You have been chosen for the greatest honor-you will become my anchor.**_

"Anchor, Great One? I don't know what..."

_**Your knowledge is not required. Nor even your consent. The pact has been sealed with five generations of your blood**_

Dimsworth suddenly clenched, a garbled noise escaping from his throat.

_"Acba yin Lo-kum yin Kym-nark-mar Acba yin Netosa yin Erva"_

A tendril of energy shot from the Eye of Aretpo around Zoraldo's neck. Dimsworth made a burbling cry as his body began to grow, distort, and discolor.

The chamber filled with smoke that only looked light amongst the oppressive darkness surrounding it. Painful crackling noises reverberated around the room.

The dark smoke slit apart. What stood there bore no sign of the existence of Broderick Dimsworth-his replacement was fifteen feet tall, wearing dark armor and a swirling cape over a gull grey hide. Dark, liquid eyes with no discernible iris or pupil sat atop an almost ducklike bill.

_**Mark well this day, and gaze upon the form of the new master of this realm. The wretched ape-creatures will soon scurry in horror before the wrath of Amot-Naphemus, Conquerer of All He Sees!**_

Zoraldo felt a single bead of sweat trickle down his brow.

* * *

><p>To Be Continued<p>

* * *

><p>Ectozone Editorial Staff: Dr. Vincent Belmont, EGB Fan, TheRazorsEdge<br>Additional Beta: Ghostdiva, Kingpin, OgreBBQ, Brian Reilly

* * *

><p>Eric Stantz and Marie Lupin, and Yuzuru Fuyuno created by OgreBBQ. Johnathan and Eden Spengler, TJ Anderson, Jeremy Cranston, Dr. Amore, Zoraldo, and Amot-Naphemus created by Fritz Baugh. Kimmy Delaney, and Courtney Delaney-Price created by EGB Fan<p>

Alec Jacobs created by James Van Hise and Neil Grahame; he first appeared in "Hat Trick", in Now Comics _The Real Ghostbusters No.28_

Zoraldo's incantation is a little in-joke to the _Palladium Fantasy Role Playing Game_ by Kevin Simbieda, and is based on the power words presented there.

* * *

><p>#3839-91909y<br>GGB89-08  
>113<p> 


	6. Chapter 6

**Ghostbusters 2021: The Eye of Aretpo, Part Six**

From the Files of Dr. Fritz V. Baugh, GBI Historian  
>GBI Case File GBNY-2021-39001

* * *

><p><strong>Previously<strong>

* * *

><p>It has been thirty-eight years since the opening of Ghostbusters International's legendary first office.<p>

The mysterious death of former baseball player Yuzuru Fuyuno sends TJ Anderson of Scotland Yard's Occult Crimes Unit to New York. She finds Fuyuno's niece, Marie Lupin, who was the intended recipient of the one clue in the case: a creepy amulet. Not long after TJ arrives, the two women are attacked by zombies and run for their lives.

Marie and TJ hitch a ride from fraternal twins John and Eden Spengler, who are having a bad night of their own: their parents-GBI Co-Founder Egon Spengler and his wife Janine-have been kidnapped. After shaking off a gang of zombie bikers, the Spenglers and their new friends head to Ghostbusters Central, where they meet up with Eric Stantz, son of another founding Ghostbuster.

There, they are contacted by Zoraldo, who not only was party to Yuzuru Fuyuno's death, but was the kidnapper of Egon and Janine. He proposes a simple trade: the Eye of Aretpo, the amulet Marie has been given, for the Spenglers and the Extreme Ghostbusters. Facing no choice, the youngsters accept; Zoraldo flees with the Eye, and fulfills his part of the bargain.

But the Ghostbusters and the elder Spenglers have been left in no condition to act against what happens next. Zoraldo and his cult first summon a dark fortress, and then Amot-Naphemus itself. The Earth is two hours away from...something bad.

John, Eric, Eden, Marie, and TJ realize that there's no one else to call. Fate has brought them to this moment, and put the legacy of the Ghostbusters into their young hands.

* * *

><p><strong>New York City<strong>  
><strong>June 8, 2021<strong>

* * *

><p><em>"This is Cody Jones at the Channel Six studios, where at this hour there is panic in Southern Manhattan. Some grainy video has been sent to our studio...as you can see, it shows a large, irregular, black building of some sort that has appeared in the Hudson River. We've been flooded with calls about, to quote one witness, 'Zombies in Eighties clothes' running amuck and attacking pedestrians...And more than one frantic caller has asked the same question: <em>_Where are the Ghostbusters?__"_

The television blaring Channel Six shattered, destroyed by a zombie wearing Roman gladiator armor.

A homeless man shrieked as the creature advanced on him.

Then he heard a siren.

A blast of energy crackled around the zombie. It shrieked, and then fell to the ground, and moved no more.

The homeless man looked up, seeing the flashing lights as the ECTO-1 sped on its way, smoke still pouring from the proton cannon on its roof.

"Ghostbusters!" the man cheered. "Yeah!"

* * *

><p>"The zombies appear to be drawing power from a central source." John explained from the passenger seat, studying his GBX. "The proton blast seems to disrupt and dispel whatever is animating the bodies."<p>

"Good for us." Eric remarked from the driver seat. "And good shooting, Marie."

Marie was sitting at the center seat in the back of the car, which controlled the roof-mounted proton cannon, a feature of this newest incarnation of the ECTO-1. "I owe it all to my Dad, who taught me two important things: how to shoot, and how not to get caught by the guy who owns the land we were hunting on."

Eric chuckled and rolled his eyes.

"You didn't tell me this thing was gonna itch so much, though." Marie said, fiddling with her brand new beige flight suit.

"We have it on good authority that once you get slimed a time or two, it should loosen up." Eden commented. "I hope so-for one thing, mine seems a bit tight around the chest."

TJ nodded in agreement. "You had that problem too?"

Marie snorted derisively. "Okay, shut up, I hate you both now. They fit fine if you have normal proportions instead of being Laurel and Hardy Barbie."

Eric made a choking noise, his face turning bright red. He was clearly trying to avoid the belly laugh that would have probably earned him an ass kicking later.

John managed to get by with a simple raised eyebrow.

* * *

><p><strong>Ghostbusters Central<strong>

* * *

><p>Jeremy Cranston watched the footage of zombies rioting, and shifted nervously in the reception desk seat. Being the receptionist at a Columbia University department, even the Spengler Institute, didn't really prepare him for this-the most excitement he usually got was on the days John Spengler staged his periodic explosive accidents (such as earlier that same day).<p>

But Eden called him, politely asked him to help out, and he got here as quick as he could.

He sighed. She was gorgeous, and the first woman who'd ever gotten the joke he told about squaring polynomials, but how was he going to ever have a chance with one of the smartest people in the world?

Professor Spengler and his wife currently lay in the upstairs beds, along with the four "Extreme" Ghostbusters. There was a PKE Meter sitting on the desk, activated, but Jeremy had only the faintest clue what he was supposed to wait for.

And then Eden and the rest had left him there. John had activated the "lock-down", the security systems that completely sealed the former firehouse from the outside world as well as activating several paranormal safeguards, but Jeremy still wasn't feeling all that safe.

_How did Mrs. Spengler or Mr. Tully ever deal with this? It's almost worse than having to go out there and actually fight the demons-at least out there you know how close you are to the world being destroyed. Here all we can do is sit, and wait, and wonder if every little noise is just Slimer upstairs cleaning out the refrigerator, or the beginning of the end._

_"Mayor Jacobs just released a quick statement: he has been personally guaranteed by an agent of Ghostbusters International that the famed worldwide paranormal investigation agency is on the case."_

Jeremy heard a thud.

The outside camera showed zombies in gladiator helmets starting to pound on the outside walls of the firehouse.

_If they get in, and do something to the Containment Unit..._ Jeremy gulped. He nervously picked up the weapon Eric had insisted he have ready-a "Proton Pistol"-and hoped he wasn't about to have to try to use it.

* * *

><p>"Captain Jacobi! Look!"<p>

The beat cop's excited shout was followed by a siren.

Many of them having grown up in the earlier parts of the century, when Ghostbusters International had finally become a thriving, nominally accepted part of New York's culture, the cops managed a brief cheer even as they attempted to keep the invading zombies and the inevitable civilians too curious and/or jaded to flee away from each other.

The ECTO-1 skidded to a halt. After at least one of the five individuals within took a deep breath, the doors open and the new Ghostbusters made their public debut.

"Wow." Marie remarked, looking at the black, ominous structure. "Nobody told me Tim Burton had a summer home built here."

"Ghostbusters!" Captain Jacobi shouted, her relief now tempered by what she saw-or what she didn't see, namely at least one face she recognized. "What's going on here?"

"We think we're on the verge of a major paranormal event related to an entity calling itself 'Amot-Naphemus'" Eric explained. "It's connected to the kidnapping of Professor Spengler and his wife earlier tonight."

"Okay." Jacobi nodded. "But where's Doctor Jackson and his team? Good grief...are you guys sporting 'Rookie' tags?"

"Um..." Eric stuttered.

"We may be new at this, but I assure you, we're all fully trained and have the full confidence of GBI's leadership." John lied blatantly. "Now if you'll excuse us, Captain, we got zombies to toast."

Eden smacked John as they got back into the car. " 'Fully trained'? First you lied to the Mayor, now you're lying to the police?"

"Well, okay, it's a bit of a stretch." John admitted. "But c'mon...you, me, Eric, we've been around this stuff all our lives. Marie's a crack shot, and TJ adds..." He feigned a contemplative expression.

TJ rolled her eyes and made an exasperated noise. "How many fire fights have you been involved in, Doctor Spengler?"

"Oh yeah, the cop thing." John said brightly. "I knew there was some other reason you were along."

"You know, if we destroy the car, my Dad will kill me." Eric said, starting the engine.

"Just use some of that money piled up in Gringotts Bank to pay for the repairs." John said brightly.

Eric scratched his forehead with his middle finger, and gunned the engine.

"You know what the last thing to go through a zombie's mind is when it dies all over again?" Marie asked.

"Most zombies are actually..." Eden started to answer

"Particle beam." Marie finished, grinning madly as she took the controls of the roof cannon.

The ECTO-1 replivehicle roared forward, cannon firing. Zombies flew away in pieces as the car charged, at least ten hurling to the Hudson River below.

"Ichor stains. Wonderful." Eric rolled his eyes. "And here I am out of Warlox..."

"Look out!" TJ shouted, as the car plunged into the dark opening of the fortress

* * *

><p><em>"Acba yin Lo-kum yin Kym-nark-mar Acba yin Netosa yin Erva"<em>

_**What...is this?**_

Zoraldo looked up at Amot-Naphemus. "Is there...a problem, Great One?"

_**I sense intruders...intruders into my fortress. Wielding the nuclear fire of our enemies. The enemies you said you had dealt with!**_

"Ghostbusters?" Zoraldo spat incredulously. "That is impossible! The co-founder and his mate still lie helpless! Their proteges as well! All at my hand! I assure you, Great One, it cannot be..."

_**SILENCE!**_ Amot-Napheums flexed, and a blast of energy played about Zoraldo. The sorcerer shrieked in pain, and fell to the ground. _**They will not be allowed to interfere. Legions!**_ he called into the air, the halls shaking with his fury. _**Find and destroy them!**_

* * *

><p>The ECTO-1 skidded to a stop. "This is as far as we can go on wheels." Eric said.<p>

The five pseudo-Ghostbusters scrambled out of the car, as Marie threw open the back door, pulling out the rack holding the weaponry they'd need.

Eric looked over the five proton packs. "Oh yeah..."

"Gear up." Marie said.

Eric shrugged a pack on, his face beaming. "I was born to wear this stuff."

"Bite your tongue." John snarked. "That's a Tully line."

TJ regarded her pack, and the neutrona wand attached to the right side. "I hope someone someday remembers there are left handed people in the world."

"Well, yeah, but GBI doesn't hire too many." John ribbed her. "They're sinister."

Eric guffawed, and Eden groaned. TJ bit her lip. She actually found it pretty funny, but wouldn't give John the satisfaction of admitting it.

"What?" Marie asked.

"We'll explain it later." Eden told her.

"Setting one is Attack Mode." Eden explained, in part to remind herself-this being the first time she'd ever even contemplated using the weaponry in a "live" setting. "It generates a positive charged stream that neutralizes the negative electrostatic charge of ectoplasm. Setting two is Confinement-it generates a negative charged shell around an entity in preparation for being trapped. Setting three is Repulsion, a negative ion flow to push entities away from you. Setting four is Solar Beam, which is basically only effective against vampiric undead and other sunlight-adverse opponents. Setting five is Organic Confinement, which is similar to setting two, but designed for living beings. It's also practically useless against most ectoplasmic manifestations."

"Before we go any further..." Eric said.

"Don't cross the streams?" Eden offered. "It's bad."

"No no..." Eric asked them to hold out a hand each, and then muttered an brief incantation. "I've extended my own magic defense-the Parma Magica-to each of you. It's not going to be very powerful split five ways, granted, but if a zombie with a low penetration attack tries to hit you, it may make all the difference"

Eden looked around. "Curious...there does seem to be a slight difference in perception. Just the slightest bit...subdued."

"In a place like this, that's probably not a bad thing." Marie quipped, arming her pack like she'd worn one for years. "Now when am I gonna get to shoot something again?"

"Ask and thou shalt receive." TJ said dryly, pointing toward the two score of undead that was now bearing down upon them.

"Gulp." Eden said.

"Only fifty of them?" Marie snorted dismissively. "Whatever."

"Let's go, Ghostbusters!" Eric shouted, firing.

"And that's Kong and Spencer's line." John shook his head. "That's even worse."

"Eat lead, Suckers!" Marie shouted.

"Actually, the proton beams use alpha particles, which are closer to helium, than lead." Eden corrected Marie.

"What. Ever." Marie rolled her eyes.

In a pretty impressive display, the five neo-Ghostbusters fired in a unison that almost might have fooled an observer into thinking it was practiced.

Well, except for John being knocked on his butt by the recoil, and TJ and Eden just about dropping their throwers.

Marie and Eric, however, did a pretty good job of mowing down a good three zombies apiece before the things knew what hit them.

Eric moved closer to Eden, in hopes of covering her while she got her bearings. "Eden! Brace with your legs!"

Eden growled to herself as she reset her stance and fired again.

John was in worse straightsﾗthe zombies were closing in him, recognizing the weak link in their opponents' chain.

TJ, having gone through police training-which even in the UK involves some experience with firearms-adapted quick, and was now proving to be a better shot than Eric. "Pick yourself off the ground, Spengler! You're not doing much good down there on your arse!"

"Depends what you want me doing." John retorted.

John managed to get up, and finally fired successfully. But the zombies had already cut him off from the others.

"We gotta find Zoraldo and Amot-Naphemus!" Marie reminded everyone. "Blowing away zombies, as fun as it is, is just giving them more time!"

Eric clamped his thrower to his waist. "Give me a few secondsﾗI'll see if I can whip up something."

"Perdo Corpus!" Eric shouted, with a blast of energy that demolished three of the closest zombies. But more of them kept coming.

"Johnathan!" Eden shouted, her brother being cut off from them by zombies.

"Retreat and regroup!" they heard him shout. "At least some of us gotta get to the big shots!"

Eric staggered a little, the spontaneous spell of a form and technique combination that wasn't his forte having drained him, tried a different track. "Creo Ignem!"

The zombies were blinded by a burst of pure white light. When they recovered their senses, the five Ghostbusters were gone.

* * *

><p><em>"Acba yin Lo-kum yin Kym-nark-mar Acba yin Netosa yin Erva"<em>

Amot-Naphemus howled.

The zombies closest to him shrieked and fell to pieces.

_**More power!**_ the dark god screamed.

Zoraldo-the man once known as Thomas Riley, aspiring stage magician-looked at the being he'd served for a century with new horror. "But Great One...the Nadir is almost here...it's only a matter of..."

_**The Ghostbusters are here NOW!**_ the demon roared. _**I have seen much over the last four decades, Zoraldo. The defeats of the First God of Fire. The One Who Cannot Die. The Deepest One. The Shapeless Destructor. The Death God of the Nile. The Dark Trickster of the North. Them, and so many others. **_

_**I WILL NOT BE DENIED IN MY MOMENT OF TRIUMPH!**_

The castle shook with the dark god's rage, and reverberated with crackles of his magic power.

* * *

><p>Eric looked around as the castle shook. "You okay, Eden?"<p>

"I'm fine." Eden replied simply, pulling out her PKE Meter. She had deactivated the energy level sensors, making the meter only capable of sensing PK flowﾗotherwise, the device probably would have been burned out by the ambient energy in this place, even with the steady improvements in the devices' breakers over the decades. "The psychokinetic energy seems to be flowing in and out of a central spot. Best guess is that's where Amot-Naphemus and Zoraldo are."

"Then let's go." Eric said. "So...um...did you miss me any?"

She blinked at him. "What kind of question is that?"

"Just wondering." Eric asked, chuckling nervously. "I mean, we all grew up together. Us, JC, Charlene, Jess and Oscar. You ever wonder what kept me away?"

"Six years with nary a word was...uncharacteristic, I admit." She finally said. "But I assumed you had good reason, and I think I've been proven correct."

"I've seen some amazing things as a wizard, Edie." Eric said. "Last year, the Order held its Grand Tribunal. They've been holding them every thirty three years since the Middle Agesﾗthis was the Forty First. Me, Master Vincent, and my Mom, and..." He stopped. "The damndest thing is I really can't say too much about it. Though I did win in Certamen against some asshole from House Tytalus that was badmouthing our Dads."

Eden managed to chuckle, and it made his heart sing. "I really should berate you for trying to distract me during all this, but...thanks." She gave him a slight smile. "It really is nice having you back, Eric."

* * *

><p>Marie and TJ stopped to catch their breaths. "The zombies seem to have lost us. For the moment." TJ remarked.<p>

"We gotta catch up with the others." Marie nodded. "They're the ones who know what's going on."

"Johnathan put it simply enough: retreat and regroup. They will probably be trying to find Zoraldo and Amot-Naphemus, so we should do likewise, as that is where they'll be or be arriving at soon enough."

Marie nudged the shorter woman. "He'll be so happy you're paying attention to him. And that you were so worried when the zombies cut him off."

TJ looked at her. "What in the world are you babbling about?"

"Oh, come off it." Marie rolled her eyes. "Johnny is quite the hunk of meat, isn't he?"

"We're fighting for our lives against a dark god and a zombie horde, and you expect me to be appraising men?"

"Oh, I know, what's to notice, right? The broad shoulders, the deep voice, the big feet" She nudged TJ in the ribs at that one "The sense of humor? The four digit IQ? Not much there, right."

"I only met the man four hours ago!" TJ sputtered

"And yet you're both already putting off pheromones so thick the air shimmers around you." Marie leaned in close. "After all, you're already his type. You saw his sister and his Momﾗshe was a Hardy Barbie herself back in the day."

"I think you need to get your sense of priorities in check, Lupin." TJ spat. "Even if I were to admit that Dr. Spengler is attractive, I barely know the man. Not all of us consider having a pulse and a Y-chromosome sufficient reason to take a man to bed."

"And that, Anderson, is you making things more complicated than it needs to be. You weren't grown in a test tube, so that means that about twenty four years ago, your Mommy saw something she wanted, your Daddy gave it to her, and nine months later..." Marie snapped her fingers under TJ's nose. "There was a bouncing baby girl who tried way too hard not to soil her diaper. So quit looking down on me for realizing that men are a feast to be enjoyed. And Johnny is a slab of prime ribﾗso go feast!"

TJ made an exasperated noise and stormed off.

Marie rolled her eyes, and looked off as though talking to someone. "Stick around. It's obviously gonna be one of those Ghostbuster romances."

* * *

><p>John peeked around the corner; all clear.<p>

He activated his GBX.

_Error: PK Level Exceeds Sensor Tolerance Parameter._

"Even with the improved breakers I put in..." he muttered.

He was too distracted resetting the meter to only detect PK flow to see the zombie approach himﾗuntil it opened its mouth to fire a blast of toxic vomit.

Fortunately, the spew splashed against an invisible barrier, confusing both the attacker and the intended victim.

"Hey, Man..." the zombie whined in a high-pitched voice. "Why didn't that hurt you, Man?"

John got his wits first, though, and blasted the zombie. _That thing Eric did to us..._ he realized. _I better remember to thank him for it later._

_GBX is showing the PK flow to and from a central point...I be that's where our Big Nasty is._ He adjusted his thrower. "Wish me luck, Mom and Pop..."

* * *

><p>Zoraldo felt a bead of sweat on his brow.<p>

_**My soldiers are still being destroyed...**_ Amot-Naphemus's spectral voice growled. _**But their time is running short**_

Zoraldo looked at his long-time master. For so long, he'd just labored to do as the dark god commanded. For so long, he'd worked solely to get out of the hellish domain of cold and sorrow. He would do anything to get away, to attain the power the Great One promised him.

He realized that, over the course of a century, he'd never really given much thought as to what that would mean to the world he'd left behind.

_**Begin the next stage of the incantation**_ Amot-Naphemus commanded.

"It is not yet the Nadir, Great One."

_**No. But this way we will be ready when the exact moment strikes. Ready in case the Ghostbusters get past my army of minions.**_

"Yes, Great One." Zoraldo inhaled, and began the next chant.

The Eye of Aretpo began to glow. It freed itself from Zoraldo's broach, and floated toward the awaiting Dark God.

* * *

><p>"JC!" Eric shouted, seeing his friend being chased by various zombies. He and Eden scattered them with a few shots.<p>

"Thanks." John said. "You guys all right?"

"Copacetic." Eden replied dryly.

The sound of proton beams being fired from their left was followed by shouts of "Baka!" and the arrival of Marie and TJ.

"What kept you?" John deadpanned.

"We ran into some old friends." TJ replied.

John grinned. "_Star Wars_ references."

"Oh, just buck up and give him a great big French kiss." Marie rolled her eyes, prodding TJ with her elbow. "Show him how concerned about him you were."

TJ sputtered, and turned bright red from anger.

"Marie, quit pushing." Eric scolded. "We're trying to stop the world from being destroyed, quit trying to play matchmaker."

"Besides." John added. "Contrary to popular belief, not all men consider double X chromosomes and a pulse sufficient enticement a mere four hours after meeting."

Marie laughed at that, which only drew confused looks from everyone but TJ, who just put her hand over her eyes and muttered.

* * *

><p><em><strong>They're right outside!<strong>_ Amot-Naphemus projected, his distress becoming obvious.

"I don't understand this..." Zoraldo shook his head. "I just don't see how they..."

_**I NEED MORE POWER!**_

Zoraldo felt his knees buckle, and his breath caught in his throat. "Great One...he croaked, and at his arm, where the skin peeking out between his glove and his jacket was becoming tighter and spotted. He yanked off the glove of his left hand, seeing his hand becoming withered, and translucent. "What have..."

_**You have served me well, Thomas Riley.**_ Amot-Naphemus replied. _**But I can no longer afford to sustain your mortal life force with my power. Not when the moment is at hand and agents of defeat are near. But I assure you...you will become the new general of my undead legions.**_

Zoraldo crumpled to the ground, and lay very still.

"Ungh." Marie groaned, as the fivesome saw their opponent for the first time. "It's after midnight, and Cinderella has become one ugly pumpkin."

"Full stream!" John shouted.

"Just don't embarrass me again, Johnathan." Eden quipped.

The five beams ripped into the massive entity. To their credit, none of the five Ghostbusters fell down this time.

On the other hand, it didn't seem to be hurting Amot-Naphemus very much, either.

The Dark God waved his hand, slamming the five youngsters with a telekinetic attack that downed them. Eric felt it blast through his parma with little effort.

_**This is what I've been afraid of?**_ Amot-Naphemus snorted. _**These are the mighty Ghostbusters? Yes...I see it now from Zoraldo's mind. He was more successful than it looked...you aren't even truly Ghostbusters. You're Fuyuno's niece, the Brittanian whom he followed to her, Spengler's whelps, and...well, he doesn't know the last one, which means he is of even less consequence.**_

_**But consider yourselves blessed. For your courage, I will allow you to live long enough to witness my completion. The Nadir of Helios is at hand, and at that time, the Eye of Aretpo will be reabsorbed into my substance. I will be whole in my power for the first time in a dozen millennia!**_

"'Nadir'?" John said, checking his watch. "But midnight was an hour ago."

"No, he's right, JC." Eric shook his head. "F-ing Daylight Savings Time, it's throwing it off an hour."

"The amulet!" TJ suggested, pointing at it as it floated toward Amot-Naphemus. "If that's the source of its power, perhaps if we destroy it instead, whatever the entity is planning might not happen."

They didn't even discuss it further. They blasted away at the floating Eye of Aretpo, but the psychokinetic energies swirling between it and Amot-Naphemus were too strong. The beams just couldn't penetrate it.

"Give me a minute..." Eric said, beginning to softly chant. "It's a last-ditch thing, but if I can gather enough power...if you can do something to distract the monster..."

Zoraldo wheezed weakly.

All he had done for the last century was leading to this moment.

"Eye Fo Optera Ot Em!" Zoraldo croaked.

Amot-Naphemus's gloating laughter filled the hallﾗuntil the Eye of Aretpo suddenly lurched away from him, and to the waiting hand of his servant Zoraldo.

_**Zoraldo?**_ the Dark God howled _**WHAT TREACHERY IS THIS?**_

"A fair one, I think." Zoraldo responded. "You betrayed me first, so now I'm returning the favor."

Amot-Naphemus roared, and began to stomp toward his former minion.

Eden had an idea. "Setting three! Full stream!"

John, TJ, and Marie joined her in the attack; the four reddish beams slammed into Amot-Naphemus. The monster howled with rage and indignity, and while it didn't seem to be driving him back, he was no longer moving forward.

_**AND TO THINK I WAS ABOUT TO SHOW YOU MERCY! YOUR DEATHS WILL BE PAINFUL AND PROLONGED FOR THIS! **_

"Thanks for the concern." John quipped.

"Get ready to shut off..." Eric said. "Now!"

The beams left the monster.

"Perdo Vim!" Eric shouted, gesturing grandly. "Eternal Bane of the Wyld!"

A blast of magic slammed into Amot-Naphemus, knocking the Dark God to one knee.

" 'No consequence'." Eric mocked.

_**That actually...stung.**_ There was honest surprise in the Dark God's voice. _**That was the work of the Spellsingers...the stink of the Atlanteans lingers around this world still...**_

"I don't think that's going to keep him long." John said nervously.

"Tsukiko..." Zoraldo creaked, placing the Eye of Aretpo on the ground. "I believe the honor should be yours."

Marie looked at Zoraldo, and then at the golden amulet. "Why should I trust you?"

"My time is almost done, Tsukiko Lupin." Zoraldo coughed. "And what have you got to lose at this point?"

Amot-Naphemus, in contrast, was suddenly screeching desperately. _**Don't touch that! It's not yours! I...er, did I say something about prolonged and painful death? That was all a joke! Hah hah funny, right? I know you mortals just love humor! So let's just all be friends, and I'll let you be my new elite minions.**_

"Yeah, we already saw how you treat your elite minions, Bunky." Marie charged her thrower, placing the nozzle against the cursed item. "This is for Uncle Yuz, you ugly son of a bitch!"

Time seemed to stop for a second.

The Eye of Aretpo shattered into a spray of golden shards.

Amot-Naphemus began to bubble, and convulse. _**NOOOOOO! DAMMIT! TWELVE THOUSAND YEARS AND I WAS SO CLOSE! THIS ISN'T FAIR! THIS SUCKS! THIS F-ING SUUUUUuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuucks...**_

Within moments, there was nothing left of the Dark God of Atlantis but a puddle of grayish ectoplasmic goo, and a twisted skeleton of approximate human sizeﾗthough the Ghostbusters would have no way of knowing it, the sole mortal remains of cultist Roderick Dimsworth.

"I'm confused. Did we just win?" TJ asked.

The now wizened and shriveled Zoraldo chuckled. "Thank you..."

"Why?" Marie asked him.

"I hated my parents. I hated the world that threw me into the charnel house of Europe's Great War." He coughed. "But most of all, I hated Amot-Naphemus. And I realized that I didn't hate the entire world enough to want it destroyed."

He gestured toward the Spengler twins. "With Amot-Naphemus gone, the power that ensorcelled your parents and the other Ghostbusters has dispelled. They should be none the worse for the experience."

"I committed a great many crimes, Tsukiko Lupin. I won't ask your forgiveness for them...but..." He wheezed. "...But for what little it might be worth, I am sorry..."

Marie looked at the pathetic, dying man for a second. "You spent your last moments in the service of Gaia, Man. That's the kind of death a lot of us hope for. Go in peace."

With one last wheeze, Thomas "Zoraldo" Riley breathed no more.

"That was very..." Eric didn't know what to say, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Maybe I will forgive him." Marie said. "Someday. But I figured he earned a better death than me calling him a murdering asshole, right?"

The dark castle shook violently, throwing the five young Ghostbusters off their feet.

"I think with Ugly and Zoraldo out of the building, the building ain't gonna be stickin' around long." John surmised.

"The ECTO-1!" Eric shouted.

"HAUL ASS!" Marie shouted.

With that, the five tore off at a run.

* * *

><p>Running through a crumbling castle while dodging debris and re-dead zombies was bad enough, but wearing heavy proton packs made it worse.<p>

Still, they made it to the waiting ECTO-1 without incident, and practically stuffed themselves inside.

"Drive, Asshole!" Marie shouted from the back.

"This would be a good time to see if you can drive as crazy as Johnathan does." Eden told Eric from the passenger seat.

TJ and John were in the middle seat; the situation was too chaotic to really care about the fact that they were a mess of entangled arms and legs.

Eric gunned the engine, and it lurched into motion. He muttered a quick "Rego Terram" spell intended to make the car move just a little faster.

"Look out!" TJ shouted as a piece of black rock tried to land on the car; Eric dodged it.

"Let's just hope the bridge is still there, or this is gonna be a real quick trip." John quipped.

"Shut the f- up." TJ sputtered, afraid he was going to be right about that.

Fortunately, it was still there.

Unfortunately, it started to crumble as the car crossed.

Eric howled and literally willed the vehicle to keep moving. "I never thought I'd be reenacting Don Rosa's 'Return to the Asscrack of Doom' anytime today!"

The car roared over the transom back into Manhattan as the bridge finally dissolved. It skidded through several doughnuts before finally coming to a stop with the help of an unoccupied police car.

"Oops." Eric shrugged.

"Congratulations. You now have three points on your driver's record." Eden said, before giving him a quick hug.

They looked to see the last of the black castle shatter, and sink beneath the Hudson River.

"Aw, too bad." Marie rolled her eyes. "I was hoping to hold my next Swinger's Club party there."

Just about then, the danger passed, John and TJ became conscious of the rather...intimate posture they were in, and scrambled to extricate each other and reach separate sides of the car.

"We did it." Eric exhaled. "We. F-ing. Did it!"

The crowd was starting to surround the car, and a chant started to resound in the late night summer sky.

**"Ghostbusters! Ghostbusters! Ghostbusters!"**

* * *

><p><strong>Ghostbusters Central<strong>

* * *

><p>Jeremy wasn't sure he believed his ears. The pounding stopped.<p>

The closed circuit camera showed the zombies outside the firehouse slumping to the ground, and dissipating into piles of ash.

Jeremy turned to the sound of movement-Roland and Kylie looked downstairs. "What's going on here? Who are you?" Kylie asked. Eduardo had joined his wife and friend, and Garrett was rolling toward the elevator.

"Mister Cranston?" Egon Spengler's voice noted, confused. "The last thing I remember was the magic show...Janine had just..." His wife, of course, was now right beside him, also looking groggy. An ecstatic Slimer floated nearby, babbling excitedly.

"John and Eden." Janine asked. "Where are they?"

_"...On the scene where the mysterious structure that appeared just a couple of hours ago has crumbled back into the Hudson River. We're trying to get in close to interview the apparent newest hires of Ghostbusters International, who are believed to be responsible for the structure's destruction and the halting of the zombie outbreak the city was suffering only moments ago..."_

And there, on the screen, wearing rookie uniforms, were John, Eden, Eric Stantz, and two women none of them recognized. The crowd was chanting _"Ghostbusters! Ghostbusters! Ghostbusters!"_

"Sounds like we missed quite a show." Eduardo quipped.

The five Extreme Ghostbusters looked at each other, their next mutual decision becoming crystal clear.

* * *

><p><strong>Epilogue<strong>  
><strong>The Ghostbusters International Headquarters Building<strong>  
><strong>30th Street and Seventh Avenue<strong>  
><strong>One Week Later<strong>

* * *

><p>Dr. Peter Charles Venkman, Chairman Emeritus of Ghostbusters International, took the podium.<p>

It had been, reportedly with some reluctance, that, at the time of his sixtieth birthday in 2014, he'd finally stopped dying his graying hair its youthful brown, and stopped having face-lifts to hide his age. But even with greyer hair, he still had a very energetic, mischievous Cheshire smirk that gave him the face of a much younger man.

(And, as he no doubt thanked the throw of the genetic dice for, at least he still had his own hair, and didn't have to resort to the cheap toupees his own father had.)

"Ladies, Gentlemen, Julio, glad you could all make it today." Venkman began. "I have two announcements to make concerning GBI, in the aftermath of last week's little...well...incident." He winked at the crowd. "So if you were expecting an announcement about Mood Slime's next disc, I'm afraid you're gonna be disappointed."

There were a few chuckles, and one exaggerated sigh of disappointment. If Venkman had any bitterness at being known nowadays less as "Peter Venkman, World Famous Ghostbuster" and more as "Rock Star Oscar Venkman's Dad" it never showed.

The other three original Ghostbusters-Egon, Dr. Ray Stantz, and Winston Zeddemore-sat in the front row of the conference, with their respective wives, and Venkman's wife Dana.

"After a staggering twenty-four years on active duty, which began when they were just out of high school, the four current members of Ghostbusters New York-which some of you guys like to call the 'Extreme Ghostbusters'-have resigned from day-to-day Ghostbusting work, and have entered the reserve list."

"Dr. Roland Jackson has accepted a new position in GBI's Research and Development division. He'll be working with Dr. Ray Stantz in the development of new Ghostbusting technologies, and improvement of the stuff we already use."

"Dr. Kylie Griffin will be moving over to the Spengler Institute, the joint research venture between GBI, Spengler Labs, and Columbia University, taking a full-time position that just opened up there. She gets to work at my old digs at Weaver Hall; I think we forget to tell her that Dean Yaeger's ghost occasionally shows up to cuss at them."

"Eduardo Rivera has been named the new Commandante of Fort Arnold, GBI's training facility. You may recall it's lacked a full-time head honcho since Winston announced his semi-retirement, and well, we just found our man."

"And last but not least, Garrett Miller will be tending to his duties as a physical therapist full time. While he will no longer be involved with GBI to even the extent of his teammates, he's still listed on the reserves, and we have no doubt he'll be there when we need him."

Venkman indicated the four Extreme Ghostbusters. "Twenty-four years, people. I think that merits a round of applause."

The requested round of applause-long, loud, and heartfelt-quickly followed.

"So where does that leave the ol' Hook and Ladder Number Eight?" Venkman grinned. "That nastiness last week gave us our answer. Five brave young people stepped up to the challenge, and passed it with flying colors. The fact that we're having this press conference instead of sacrificing goats to Amot-Naphemus is proof of that."

"The field leader of the new GBNY is Dr. Johnathan Christopher Spengler. Formerly of the Spengler Institute, he's a genius level physicist and engineer who graduated high school at age 13."

John came out, now clad in a flight suit with his last name sewn into it. The uniform was purple, with red on its collar. Unlike a standard suit, however, it was sleeveless-the red tee shirt underneath it sported the Ghostbusters logo on the right shoulder.

"Tessa Jane Anderson comes to us from Jolly Olde England, where she served a stint with Scotland Yard's Occult Crimes Unit. She brings her background in detective work, and her training in dealing with sociopaths will no doubt help her in dealing with her coworkers."

TJ appeared, looking a little nervous. Her flight suit was of standard cut, and while the collar and cuffs were orange the rest of it was a similar shade to John's. She glared at him, and he got an amused look on his face.

The look was echoed by his mother, who poked her husband and whispered "Same color with orange? I think this means we need to watch out for this one..."

Egon raised an eyebrow, amused in his own right.

"Marie Lupin formerly worked as a night club manager, where she probably dealt with much stranger creatures than she ever will at GBI. She's also a crack shot, and has a background in crypto zoology."

"Meaning her father is a werewolf, so she knows a thing or two about their society." Liz Stantz whispered to her husband. "Barney is quite proud of her."

Marie grinned and milked the crowd for applause. Her flight suit was green, with yellow cuffs. Venkman noted to himself, with amusement, that she hadn't tucked in her pant legs. _Well, we know who the cool one on __this__ team's gonna be_

"And filling out our day-to-day team is Eric Stantz. Like Johnny, he's a Ghostbuster legacy, and is probably an even bigger trove of occult lore than his father was, a graduate of England's prestigious ReinﾕHagen Academy. That's spelled with a dot in the middle, by the way."

Eric wore a flight suit of standard beige color, much like his own father's had been. The trim on his collar was green, though, and he wore a blue jacket with flame designs on it over it. His trademark aviator goggles were perched on his head.

"Dr. Eden Marie Spengler was also asked to join GBNY. She declined a full time position, deciding to remain with the Spengler Institute, but has accepted a position with GBNY's reserves. She's a genius physicist, linguist, and cryptographer, and like her twin brother graduated high school at age 13."

Eden joined her brother and friends. Her flight suit was bluish purple, with reddish-purple cuffs; it was obvious to several of those present that the colors were similar, though not identical, to those on the uniform her father had worn for so many years.

"Ladies and Gentlemen...the Best, the Beautiful...the All Brand New...Ghostbusters!"

The room erupted with deafening applause.

* * *

><p><strong>The Beginning<strong>

* * *

><p>Ectozone Editorial Staff: Dr. Vincent Belmont, EGB Fan, TheRazorsEdge<br>Additional Beta: Ghostdiva, Kingpin, OgreBBQ, Brian Reilly  
>[ [ hr ] ]<br>Eric Stantz and Marie Lupin, and Yuzuru Fuyuno, Charlene Zeddemore, and the Inquisitors created by OgreBBQ. Johnathan and Eden Spengler, TJ Anderson, Jeremy Cranston, Dr. Amor? Zoraldo, and Amot-Naphemus created by Fritz Baugh. Jessica Venkman, created by EGB Fan.

Alec Jacobs created by James Van Hise and Neil Grahame; he first appeared in "Hat Trick", in Now Comics _The Real Ghostbusters No.28_

The Order of Hermes created by Jonathan Tweet and Mark ReinﾕHagen for _Ars Magica_, currently published by Atlas Games. They also appeared in White Wolf's _Mage: The Ascension_ and _Vampire: The Masquerade_. Developed for the GBOT continuity by Vincent Belmont and Fritz Baugh. ReinﾕHagen Academy is, of course, named for Mark ReinﾕHagen, co-creator of _Ars Magica_ and the original World of Darkness.

Zoraldo's incantation is a little in-joke to the _Palladium Fantasy Role Playing Game_ by Kevin Simbieda, and is based on the power words presented there.

"Warlox" is a creation of Vincent Belmont

* * *

><p>#3867-30810m<br>115


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